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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26686105">Honōka Omake!</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yujina/pseuds/Yujina'>Yujina</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Honōka [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Afterlife, Alternative POVs, Crack Treated Seriously, Good Orochimaru (Naruto), Misunderstood Orochimaru, More Chakra Theory!, Omake, Pranks, Serious, Side Story, Silly, Team Monster, surprise</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 03:47:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>18,826</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26686105</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yujina/pseuds/Yujina</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tachibana Tomoe wakes up as Tsunemori Honōka. Shenanigans ensue and the timeline suffers, for the good of the plot.</p><p>Side stories, alternative POVs, and other things you wanted to know about Honōka!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hatake Kakashi &amp; Namikaze Minato, Hatake Kakashi &amp; Original Character(s), Orochimaru (Naruto) &amp; Original Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Honōka [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1941916</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>251</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>918</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Reincarnation and Transmigration, Rhyne's Chakra Coils</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 8 - Sensei's POV!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Oh, he can just tell this was not approved by the councilors or <em>Danzō.</em> The handwriting is good, but not much else is. <em>Rare</em> <em>prodigy?</em>  <em>Uniquely genius intellect?</em>  He scoffs. He suspects this 'Tsunemori' Honōka is nothing more than a loyal watchdog. The name says it all. ‘Always guarding’, indeed.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Excuse me, Orochimaru-sama…there’s a kid at the front desk asking for you.”</p><p>Orochimaru doesn’t bother looking up from the microscope. He can’t afford to, really. Every second and minuscule change in the sample is too important to miss.</p><p>“Name?”</p><p>“…she didn’t say?”</p><p>“Or did you not ask?” he challenges.</p><p>“…”</p><p>“Well?”</p><p>“I didn’t ask…”</p><p>He scoffs at his so-called intern, some Yamanaka boy who styles himself as an aspiring scientist. He’s far too unobservant to even qualify as a half-way competent assistant.</p><p>“Um, she brought a sealed scroll from the Hokage… ‘For your eyes only’, Orochimaru-sama.”</p><p>That gives him pause. A Root agent? He doubts it. They wouldn’t trust the Yamanaka boy with passing along a message, even if it supposedly came from the Hokage himself.</p><p>“Lay it here.” He points to a spot on the desk next to him.</p><p>The boy comes forward and carefully lays it down. Reason number two the boy can’t even be a competent assistant. He’s clumsy. Not quite as clumsy as Jiraiya at that age, but still clumsy.</p><p>He glances up just long enough to determine if the scroll is from a Root operative or genuinely from Sarutobi-sensei. It <em>is</em> from Sensei.</p><p>“Atsushi-kun…” it’s not the boy’s actual name. His hope is that he can subtly bully the boy out of his position without offending the Yamanaka Clan. Not an opponent he’d considering pissing off lightly. “Did you attempt to open the Hokage’s message?”</p><p>“…I—yes.”</p><p>“Do not try that again. You will not like the consequences.”</p><p>“Y-yes, Orochimaru-sama!”</p><p>“Now get out of my lab.”</p><p>“Y-yes!”</p><p>He rolls his eyes. Spineless.</p><p> </p><p>When he looks up again it’s twenty hundred on the dot. He leans back, spine popping, and sighs. He <em>hates</em> growing older. He’s going to wake up with <em>frown lines</em> someday. Disgusting.</p><p>He stretches and remembers Sensei’s scroll. Oh dear, he does hope it wasn’t <em>too</em> important. He snorts and opens the scroll, then scowls.</p><p>
  <em>‘Orochimaru, I am assigning you a genin apprentice. Tsunemori Honōka is a rare prodigy with uniquely genius intellect who I believe will benefit from learning from you. Sarutobi Hiruzen.’</em>
</p><p>Oh, he can just tell this was not approved by the councilors or <em>Danzō.</em> The handwriting is good, but not much else is. <em>Rare</em> <em>prodigy?</em>  <em>Uniquely genius intellect?</em>  He scoffs. He suspects this 'Tsunemori' Honōka is nothing more than a loyal watchdog. The name says it all. ‘Always guarding’, indeed.</p><p>He turns on the clunky monitor and switches to the front desk camera. The Yamanaka boy has locked up and left for the night, but has let Sensei’s little <em>spy</em> remain. He’s going to have to lecture the boy on proper procedure, again.</p><p>He quickly cleans up his workspace and sanitizes his hands. Then he stomps (relatively) out to the front desk. He throws the door open with more force than is strictly necessary, but it’s all for effect.</p><p>He walks straight for the front desk station, watching the waifish child from his peripheral vision only. She doesn’t even react to his sudden appearance.</p><p>“You’re still here, are you?”</p><p>She begins swinging her legs, staring straight ahead. Her eyes are unusual. He can’t place her family connection. Not a branch family from any of the main clans then. Foreign, maybe.</p><p>He grabs the logbook and clicks his tongue. “…didn’t have you sign in…? Not good enough.” </p><p>Still no reaction.</p><p>“Child!” he snaps. The girl finally startles. “Come here.”</p><p>She immediately slides off the chair and stands to his side… How obedient.</p><p>“Do you remember what time you entered the premises?”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>He tosses the logbook down on the desk and grabs a chair for her to stand on. He even finds her a pen since he’s feeling so generous.</p><p>“Fill it out.”</p><p>She climbs onto the chair and picks up the pen and turns the logbook straight. She’s such a tiny thing. He can’t even make a guess at her age. But, she doesn’t hesitate to fill out all the proper blocks. Decent reading comprehension for one so small, at least. She also signs her name in kanji. Tsunemori; always, forest. Honōka; flame, flower. Hm. A rather patriotic name. Poetic, even.</p><p>“Do you know why you are here, child?”</p><p>She nods and continues standing on the chair. Impudent little thing.</p><p>“Sarutobi-sensei just can’t help himself, it seems…” He casts the seals for a weak coercion genjutsu. Children have such weak wills, after all. “Now, tell me: are you here to snoop for Sensei?”</p><p>She frowns at him, and his interest piques—just slightly. It’s unusual for anyone to resist his genjutsu. He did cast it rather obviously though.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>He knew it! He really shouldn’t be so surprised.</p><p>“Also, genjutsu doesn’t affect me.”</p><p><em>What?</em> He blinks, then leans against the counter, crossing his arms. It seems Sensei didn’t send him a completely green genin.</p><p>“Are you Anbu?”</p><p>She shakes her head, looking through him in a vaguely infuriating manner.</p><p>“What is your name, child?”</p><p>An eyebrow creeps up and she focuses her unusual eyes on Sensei’s introductory ‘letter’ then up to his face. She stops short of his eyes, landing on his lips, most likely.</p><p>She doesn’t answer him and he rolls his eyes.</p><p>“From your own mouth, if you please.”</p><p>“Tsunemori Honōka-desu.”</p><p>“Age?”</p><p>“Six. My birthday is on June eighteenth.”</p><p>It’s March first now, the usual year end genin examination date. A fresh graduate then, one who can indeed be considered a prodigy. Sensei didn’t lie about that, at least. She’s also the year mate of Minato’s new apprentice, Sakumo’s boy. She’s even smaller than him<em>.</em></p><p>Perhaps she is an orphan. The unkempt state of her wavy, possibly curly, hair is atrocious. It’s matted, and nothing short of a haircut can save it. </p><p>He thinks Sensei must have been expecting her to graduate for some time—must have been planning to set her on him for just as long, if not longer. Sensei hasn’t shown any interest in orphans since he picked <em>him</em> up.</p><p>“Likes, dislikes, hobbies—tell me about yourself.” He rattles off.</p><p>“My favorite color right now is blue. I like gyōza but not the deep fried kind. My family owns and operates a bathhouse. I like reading.” </p><p>And, surprisingly, the child is not an orphan. A civilian, whose family owns a bathhouse?</p><p>“Tsunemori-ya? <em>That</em> bathhouse?” he suppresses a shudder. </p><p>How many times did the old matron chase Jiraiya away with a broom for peeping? Sage bless her soul; that woman had nerves of steel, chasing shinobi with brooms and buckets of hot water for so much as thinking about tracking blood and filth into her bathhouse. How she expected anyone to get clean in the first place is beyond him.</p><p>“Why become a shinobi?” he asks, and he’s genuinely curious. Tsunemori-ya does alright for a humble bathhouse. Surely she has prospects as a civilian? “You could be living a peaceful life instead of one steeped in murder and war?”</p><p>She doesn’t even deliberate.</p><p>“I had question I couldn’t answer anywhere else.”</p><p>Their eyes meet for a brief second, her red pupils cutting straight through him. She looks away quickly.</p><p>“Had? Have you found your answers?”</p><p>She gestures with one open hand, tilting it back and forth. What the hell kind of gesture is that?</p><p>“What did you think of the Academy curriculum?”</p><p>She considers.</p><p>“I kind of expected more.” The first bit of personality she’s shown. “But that’s okay; I get to apprentice with a Sannin now.”</p><p>Cheeky.</p><p>“Flattery will get you nowhere with me, child.”</p><p>“Worth a shot.”</p><p>He laughs, surprised. She’s unexpectedly brazen! He might just like her.</p><p>“Very well. What can you tell me about your strengths and weaknesses?”</p><p>“I learned the curriculum inside out, but not much else. I can do the Academy three as well as any other graduate. I’m most proud of my henge.”</p><p>He frowns. Is that all? Aside from her apparent genjutsu immunity, she doesn’t sound terribly interesting. Disappointing.</p><p>“Ah, my chakra is a one to one ratio, if you consider that a strength.”</p><p>“Percent of deviation?”</p><p>“None.”</p><p>Now that, <em>that</em> is interesting. While it is true equal ratios are ideal for drawing out the maximum amount of chakra a given person can use, and inherently more efficient when balancing chakras for different techniques, it can be a double-edged sword. It’s much easier to go into critical chakra exhaustion if the body does not naturally pull the brakes once either spiritual or physical chakra sources become depleted. If they both run out at the same time, it’s too late. A natural one to one ratio is unheard of for that very reason. The body favors one or the other to prevent such a thing from happening.</p><p>“What are you expecting from this apprenticeship?”</p><p>She shifts a bit.</p><p>“Answers…and to not die.”</p><p>He throws back his head and laughs. Sensei couldn’t have scripted it better had he hired a playwright, and yet he knows the child is making it up as she goes.</p><p>“I think we will get along splendidly, Honōka-kun.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Side Story! Pranks I</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“I don’t see how this is even a prank.” Obito grumbles. “We’re just gonna end up bothering him until he kicks us all out.”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time Kakashi shows up at the empty lot next to Uchiha-ku he gets into a fistfight with Obito over which flavor of rice ball is superior. Rin has to break them up.</p><p>Honōka spends the entire interaction on the ground, cackling.</p><p> </p><p>The second time Kakashi shows up she has a plan.</p><p>“We should prank Sensei.”</p><p>Kakashi and Obito both shoot her dubious looks, and then glare at each other for having the gall to react the same way.</p><p>Obito shrugs and decides to go along with her just to spite Kakashi. “I’m in—last time worked out pretty well.” Despite him nearly having a senbon thrown between his eyes.</p><p>Kakashi crosses his arms, unwilling to back out if Obito doesn’t back out first.</p><p>“What’s the plan?”</p><p> </p><p>Orochimaru glances up from his work just in time to see his precocious student and her gang of little friends enter the front lobby. Kakashi is with them.</p><p>He looks at his work and sighs—it hasn’t been going well anyways, and he knew it was only a matter of time before she picked up the nerve to 'prank' him. </p><p>He watches them bully the keys from Atsushi-kun, who gives in pathetically easily. Honōka only has to turn her palm out to him and he drops the keys in her open hand. She then passes the keys to Obito, who immediately tries to give them back to her. Kakashi eventually takes the keys himself and leads them to the door. Her two little friends crowd around him.</p><p>Honōka covers her mouth and turns directly to his hidden camera, waving cheekily at him.</p><p>…Is she pranking him or her friends? He hums. He could play along…or he could prank them back. He’s never been very good at pranks though.</p><p>He considers.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t see how this is even a prank.” Obito grumbles. “We’re just gonna end up bothering him until he kicks us all out.”</p><p>Kakashi crosses his arms behind his head. “Stupid. We’re the distraction. Honōka’s going to be setting the real prank up while he’s busy wondering what <em>we</em> are planning.”</p><p>“Ah, no fair! Why didn’t you tell me that, Honōka? What’s the real prank? Can I help?”</p><p>“It’s a secret!”</p><p>“No fair!” Obito complains again. “You always keep the best parts for yourself!”</p><p>The lights suddenly flicker and die.</p><p>“…”</p><p>“H-Honōka-chan…I think your sensei knows we’re here already…”</p><p>She giggles as she pops a grate off the wall.</p><p>“Keep him busy, ‘kay?”</p><p> </p><p>They both yell at Honōka for ditching them. Kakashi just sighs. He doesn’t know what he expected, honestly.</p><p>“Does anyone have a light?” he asks. It’s pitch black and there are no windows or emergency lights in the back halls.</p><p>“I didn’t bring anything with me…” Rin admits.</p><p>“Me neither…” Obito agrees. “Oh! I got an idea!”</p><p>Kakashi hears Obito suck in a deep breath and hugs the wall, pulling Rin with him, who lets out a startled noise.</p><p>“Don’t use Katon inside a lab, dumbass!”</p><p>Obito lets out his held breath and little pops of fire wisps through the hall. They last for maybe ten second before dissipating.</p><p>“I know that, stupid! I’ve been practicing this one a lot though. It’s harmless, more or less.”</p><p>Kakashi’s not sure he wants to know the ‘more or less’ part.</p><p>“Just…make sure we’re behind you before you do that again, yeah?”</p><p>Obito scoffs at him. “I know that, Bakashi!”</p><p>He breathes out another couple flares and they edge towards the end of the hall, turning a corner. Obito blows out another group of wisps and they spot the silhouette of Orochimaru-sama. He’s holding a ridiculously big <em>needle.</em></p><p>They all scream at varying pitches and turn to run.</p><p>Rin huddles against his back as his legs lock up in terror and Obito shoves them both until they go stumbling down the hall.</p><p> </p><p>Honōka sneaks into Sensei’s office and heads straight for the mini-fridge. She opens his bento and puts in her spring loaded snake pop-up toy and a rice ball with a smiley face on it. She carefully closes up the bento again.</p><p>Then she snickers and goes to bail out her friends. They're running scared and Sensei is gleefully prowling after them.</p><p> </p><p>He stalks after the children for a solid ten minutes, herding them away just before they can escape each time they make it back to the front lobby door. He’s surprised Kakashi hasn’t tried turning on him—he certainly shows no reservations in attacking him at training.</p><p>However, he does not (usually) carry a bone marrow biopsy needle with him at training. Maybe he should, if this is the reaction it nets him.</p><p>“Sensei! I got you!” Honōka launches herself at him.</p><p>He rolls his eyes. She may have, had she not announced herself first. He might also have stabbed her had she not. </p><p>He catches her out of the air with his free hand.</p><p>“I do believe it is <em>me</em> that has caught <em>you.</em> Are you quite done with your little prank now?”</p><p>“Yep! All finished.” She says, and he wonders if he should comb the lab for traps when she leaves. “Were you busy?”</p><p>He sighs and shakes his head at her, then releases her back onto the ground. The fuse box is conveniently within reaching distance, so he flicks the hall lights back on.</p><p>There are some startled shouts and he hears the front lobby door swing open and slam shut. He twirls the bone marrow tap and smirks.</p><p>“I do believe I have scared off your little friends.”</p><p>“Sensei, you sound like you had fun.”</p><p>He gives her a little push on the back.</p><p>“Yes. Now get out of here. I am working on something very important right now.”</p><p>“Okay. Don’t forget to eat lunch, Sensei!”</p><p>“Yes, yes.” He prods her along. “Go torment Minato if you must torment someone.”</p><p>“That’s the plan!”</p><p>He chuckles. He doubts Minato will get off as easily as he did, knowing Honōka.</p><p> </p><p>Honōka catches up with her friends outside Uchiha-ku.</p><p>“Honōka, you traitor! You didn’t say your sensei was terrifying!”</p><p>Rin is gasping for breath, hand still clawed in the back of Kakashi’s shirt. “I’ve never been so scared in all my life…!”</p><p>Kakashi is calmer, but not by much.</p><p>“Did you at least complete the prank?” He demands.</p><p>She flashes them all a thumbs up.</p><p>“Sensei is going to be so surprised!”</p><p> </p><p>Orochimaru eventually decides to take his student’s advice and goes to retrieve his bento.</p><p>
  <em>BOING!</em>
</p><p>He nearly tosses the entire thing across the floor, and his heart races in his throat for a solid thirty seconds.</p><p>He scowls at himself. She pranked him with a simple pop-up trinket (it’s even shaped like a snake!). She also left him a rice ball with a ridiculous smiley face.</p><p>Does he dare eat it?</p><p>She might ask him what he thought of it later… He’ll have to check what’s inside it, at least.</p><p>Seasoned soft-boiled egg. He tuts. Now he has to eat it—it’d be a waste not to when she went to the trouble of making him his favorite food.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Side Story! Root Seal Reveal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Yes or no? Is Danzō the Child Snatcher?” Minato asks.</p><p>Sensei opens his mouth but no sound comes out. He tries to nod but his neck and jaw locks up.</p><p>“…That’s a pretty comprehensive seal.” Minato mutters. “Where’s it located?”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This side story takes place after Chapter 42 but before Chapter 46.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The new daimyō of Kusa is instated and the request for reinforcements is finally approved for the Kusa border. Sensei sits them all down for an important discussion and carefully considers how to begin.</p><p>“…Reinforcements are generally a good thing.” He grits out, awkwardly. “However, in spite of that, you, we…<strong><em>vigilance!”</em></strong> </p><p>They jump as he shouts the last word and Sensei scowls. He's turning a little red in the face. Minato and Kakashi look at each other, worried.</p><p>“Is Orochimaru-sensei having a stroke?”</p><p>Sensei points a pale finger at Kakashi. <strong>“No.”</strong> And resumes struggling to make words from sounds.</p><p>“Sensei?”</p><p>“Unknown persons in camp…! Watch out for—<em>Child Snatcher</em>—”</p><p>Sensei makes a choking sound and collapses, limbs frozen. She drops to her knees next to him.</p><p>“Sensei?!”</p><p>“He’s been sealed!” Minato exclaims. “<em>Ohhh—</em>that’s why he can’t talk about it!”</p><p>Sensei glares at Minato, sweat dripping down his temple as he struggles against whatever is happening to him.</p><p>“…you are only figuring this out…<em>now</em>…?!” Sensei pants. “Idiot child…!”</p><p>Minato winces. “Hey…how was I supposed to know?”</p><p>She concentrates on pulling water from the air and dabs the blob on Sensei’s forehead and temples. He’s embarrassed—something she doesn’t think she’s ever felt from him before—but puts up with her mothering.</p><p>“So, this seal thing—it makes it impossible for Sensei to talk about Danzō? He can’t even allude to him by calling him the Child Snatcher?”</p><p>“It’s probably some kind of sworn-to-secrecy seal. They were common during the Second Hokage’s time, and Danzō is a former student of the Second.”</p><p>Sensei slowly sits up and she waves the glob of water back into the air.</p><p>“We need a workaround to discuss anything Danzō related.” Kakashi says, then repeats himself in shinobi sign language.</p><p>Sensei raises his hand and gets a handful of nonsense signs out before he starts sweating again, hand clenching. </p><p>“Writing?” She asks, hopeful.</p><p>“No.”</p><p>He’s tried it then.</p><p>“Yes or no? Is Danzō the Child Snatcher?” Minato asks.</p><p>Sensei opens his mouth but no sound comes out. He tries to nod but his neck and jaw locks up.</p><p>“…That’s a pretty comprehensive seal.” Minato mutters. “Where’s it located?”</p><p>Sensei takes a deep breath and opens his mouth, sticking his tongue out. The effort to keep his mouth open and tongue exposed makes him tremble.</p><p>“Hm…it’s not like any seal I’ve ever seen.”</p><p>Honōka takes one look at it and scowls. She never thought she’d ever appreciate her grandfather bullying her into learning the sixty four hexagrams from <em>Yi Jing</em>, or the <em>Classic of Changes</em>.</p><p>“It’s a hexagram.” She says.</p><p>Kakashi raises an eyebrow at her. “Honōka, that looks nothing like a hexagram.”</p><p>“Not the star shaped hexagram—the sixty four hexagrams from <em>Classic of Changes</em>. That’s the thirty-first hexagram, 'xian', or 'kan'. Its inner trigram is the characters for ‘bound’ and ‘mountain’. The outer trigram is ‘open’ and ‘swamp’. Its meaning lies in influences and feelings.”</p><p>“Minato-Sensei, did you understand any of that?” Kakashi asks.</p><p>“Um… No, not really.”</p><p>She even perplexed Sensei out of his discomfort. He closes his mouth and rubs his jaw, fixing her with a deeply contemplative look.</p><p>“Sixty-four hexagrams…trigrams. Did you learn that from a Hyūga?”</p><p>She sighs. “I’ve never even met a Hyūga before in my life, Sensei.”</p><p>He hums.</p><p>“Okay, so these lines correspond with other characters?” Minato asks. “That’s what you’re saying, right?”</p><p>She nods.</p><p>Minato passes her a scroll and a brush and small bottle of ink.</p><p>“Write them down for me?”</p><p>“Sure.” She marks down the hexagram and then breaks it into its individual characters, adding ‘influence’ and ‘feelings’ for good measure.</p><p>Minato sizes up the characters, frowning in concentration.</p><p>“I get the ‘bound’ character—that one’s pretty straight forward. ‘Mountain’ is probably a strength qualifier. Strong enough to bind mountains…to move mountains? The mountain is the target's will? Binding the will…but then ‘open’ and ‘swamp’?”</p><p>Kakashi crosses his arms and considers. </p><p>“Swamps are difficult to move through?”</p><p>“Oh, nice, Kakashi!” Minato praises. “So, ‘influence’, ‘bound’, and ‘mountain’. That’s the part that removes the target's ability to reveal secrets by paralyzing them. ‘Feelings’, ‘open’, and ‘swamp’ is probably some other deterrent…”</p><p>Honōka thinks she knows what the second half does.</p><p>She’s accidentally (and not so accidentally) seen, <em>experienced,</em> memories by entering the liminal spaces of other others on several occasions now. And yet, she hasn’t seen a single memory from Sensei.</p><p>Sensei’s feelings and memories are open (to Danzō) but clear as mud (swampy) to everyone else.</p><p>She hums.</p><p>“Can we remove it?” She asks.</p><p>“Not without the key or a very long time to decode the entire seal. There’s probably a lot more to this seal than what we can see on the surface.” Minato sighs. “Kushina could probably counter seal this in her sleep—and Jiraiya-sensei would just rip it off with brute force…”</p><p><em>“No.”</em> Sensei growls. “There will be no brute forcing…<em>this</em>.”</p><p>“I didn’t say I would!” Minato protests.</p><p>She glances at the smoky ribbon of lilac wind that twirls around Sensei’s lower dantian and drops into his liminal space, standing on the beach.</p><p>Honōka tries to step into the water but it remains stubbornly solid under her feet. She thinks she could probably ‘brute force’ it, but doesn’t know what would happen to Sensei if she tried.</p><p>She blinks back to the present situation.</p><p>“What trips you up, Sensei? Could you say child snatcher if you meant an Iwa-nin instead?”</p><p>“Child snatcher.” Sensei says. He tries to form a sentence around it and hisses, frustrated.</p><p>“What about…pointing or gesturing?”</p><p>“…watch out for—” he points to his tongue and bleps, (cute!) “—are…<em>plants</em>. Emotionless…<em>masks</em>.”</p><p>“People with the seal on their tongue work for Danzō?” Minato guesses.</p><p>Sensei can’t nod so he crosses his hands again, like they’re tied up.</p><p>“Oh! Sensei, can you refer to Danzō in regular conversation?”</p><p>“Shimura Danzō is fifty years old.”</p><p>“Okay, okay.” They might be getting somewhere.</p><p>Sensei also considers.</p><p>“Watch out for <em>plants</em> with—” he gestures to his tongue again, “—they belong to—” he crosses his wrists, then decides to draw an ‘x’ in the air instead.</p><p>“Yes!” Minato cheers. “Can I ask questions about what the hell is going on in the village now?”</p><p>“Language, Minato-sensei.” Kakashi chides, eye smiling. Minato rolls his eyes at him and shoves him on the shoulder. Kakashi swears more than Minato does.</p><p>Sensei sighs.</p><p>“Very well. I have suffered this much indignity today, I may as well continue.”</p><p>“Just think of it as playing charades, Sensei. It’s not so bad.”</p><p>He scoffs at her. <em>“Charades.”</em></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 9 - Minato's POV!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Kakashi reluctantly comes forward and Minato is curious. They know each other? Are they friends? Kakashi’s been insisting that he doesn’t have (or need) friends. He hopes this little girl is his friend. Kakashi needs to lighten up some, maybe go on a play date to the park like a normal kid his age.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Minato’s been standing in the clearing of the Third Training Ground for roughly twenty minutes now. He’s waiting patiently for Kakashi to spring his best surprise attack. Of course, when you know there’s a surprise attack coming, it’s not really a surprise attack anymore. More like a premeditated attack meant to simulate a real surprise attack. And, he’s been waiting for twenty minutes and he <em>really</em> hopes Kakashi decides to attack him soon. It’s March and the mornings are still nippy. He shivers.</p>
<p>“Minato, you have not booked out the Third Training Ground for this period.”</p>
<p>He glances up at his Sensei’s former teammate. Minato is almost as tall as Orochimaru, but not quite there yet. One more growth spurt and he’ll have him beat!</p>
<p>Orochimaru still manages to look down on him, feline (snaky?) eyes narrowing in displeasure.</p>
<p>“Oh, I must have forgotten. My apologies, Orochimaru-san.” Minato thinks he always looks so grouchy, and walks like he’s wearing a fancy kimono even when he’s in his jōnin attire. It’s a bit intimidating. “What brings you to the Third Training Ground today? Testing out a new jutsu?” Wouldn’t that be awesome!</p>
<p>He crosses his arms and his eyes narrow further.</p>
<p>Then Minato notices the tiny child standing in Orochimaru’s shadow. She is <em>so</em> tiny! Barely taller than his kneecaps! Her hair is so fluffy, chopped up haphazardly and longer on one side.</p>
<p>“Ara? Who’s this young lady?” He begins, pleasantly, but then he wonders why such a cute little girl is at a training ground with Orochimaru. Her elbows are scuffed and there’s a bruise on her chin. “Is it possible you’ve taken on a student, Orochimaru-san?”</p>
<p>Orochimaru scoffs at him. “Sarutobi-sensei’s handiwork, I assure you.”</p>
<p>He laughs. That explains it. Maybe he should write to Sensei and ask him to tell Sandaime-sama to reconsider putting a little girl under Orochimaru-san’s tutelage.</p>
<p>He puts his hands on his knees and leans forward, trying to catch the little girl’s shifty eyes—and, wow! They’re red in the center and blue on the outside. That’s certainly different!</p>
<p>“So, does the little lady have a name?”</p>
<p>Her eyebrows bunch together and she looks away from him, making a face at nothing in particular.</p>
<p>“…Tsunemori Honōka-desu.”</p>
<p>Ah! How sweet! She’s so polite and articulate for her age. He wonders how old she is exactly. She can’t be older than Kakashi, for sure.</p>
<p>“Namikaze Minato-desu.” He offers his hand out for her to shake. “I have a student about your age. You might have heard of him, his name is—”</p>
<p>Kakashi peeks out of the forest to his right, her left, and she immediately turns away from him. She waves excitedly at Kakashi before completely blowing him off.</p>
<p>“Kakashi!” she waves, making a subtle ‘get over here’ gesture as well. “It’s been a while. How are you?”</p>
<p>Kakashi reluctantly comes forward and Minato is curious. They know each other? Are they friends? Kakashi’s been insisting that he doesn’t have (or need) friends. He hopes this little girl <em>is</em> his friend. Kakashi needs to lighten up some, maybe go on a play date to the park like a normal kid his age.</p>
<p>“Yo, Honōka. What happened to your hair?”</p>
<p>He knows her name! Perfect!</p>
<p>“Rin cut it.”</p>
<p>Another friend?! Even better!</p>
<p>“With what? A blunt shuriken?”</p>
<p>Ah! Please don’t say anything rude, Kakashi, she’s just a little girl. You can’t be mean to little girls!</p>
<p>“No. She used scissors.”</p>
<p>He hears Orochimaru scoff and knows he probably had something to say about her hair too. </p>
<p>“Your sensei is funny.” She informs Kakashi. “Does he talk to you like that too?”</p>
<p>Like what? He thinks.</p>
<p>Kakashi sighs.</p>
<p>“Like what?” He asks.</p>
<p>“Like a child.”</p>
<p>Ah. Was he…patronizing her? Did he belittle her someway? Orochimaru soundlessly laughs at him and Minato feels very embarrassed.</p>
<p>He clears his throat.</p>
<p>“So, Orochimaru-san, you must be here to test Honōka-chan—”</p>
<p>“An astute observation.” Orochimaru teases.</p>
<p>Right. “Do you mind if I watch? I’m honestly running out of ideas to keep Kakashi entertained with.”</p>
<p>“Looking to take notes, Minato?”</p>
<p>Who has <em>actually</em> had a student for longer than a week? He has, so he shrugs off the gibe.</p>
<p>“Yeah, of course, if it’s no trouble.”</p>
<p>Orochimaru sighs and Minato is ninety-nine percent certain it’s all puffed up theatrics.</p>
<p>“Very well.”</p>
<p>Yes!</p>
<p>“Having another genin present certainly simplifies things, no?”</p>
<p>Uh, <em>no!</em> Bad idea, Orochimaru-san! Kakashi will beat her into the dirt with zero reservations!</p>
<p>“Is that a good idea, Orochimaru-san? Kakashi has already experienced his first battle…he might be a bit much for Honōka-chan’s current ability.”</p>
<p>Orochimaru refolds his arms, giving the little girl a cool look.</p>
<p>The little girl glances between him, Orochimaru, and then Kakashi, who shrugs at her.</p>
<p>She squares off with Kakashi, planting her feet shoulder width apart.</p>
<p>“Weapons?” Kakashi asks. No! He wants to shout.</p>
<p>“I have none.” She says, raising her open hands above her waist. “Orochimaru-sama is taking me to get outfitted later.”</p>
<p>“Ah, I see,” he mutters. “This training session is to see what disciplines will suit Honōka-chan.” That’s actually pretty considerate of Orochimaru, he thinks. It’s safer than throwing the whole shinobi arsenal at her and hoping something sticks.</p>
<p>Kakashi smirks at her and Minato wants to call the fight off right then and there. He’s going to be mean.</p>
<p>“Well, what are you waiting for?” Orochimaru snaps.</p>
<p>The little girl shrugs and disappears in a shunshin—a surprisingly well executed one! Kakashi assumes she’s coming high, but she slides low and kicks his grounded foot out from under him.</p>
<p>Then she aims a brutal axe kick right for Kakashi’s spine and he suddenly remembers what Kushina was like when she was a kid. Ah. Scary, scary.</p>
<p>It connects with the log Kakashi replaces himself with and her heel digs into the solid piece of wood. She—she was planning on hitting him with that amount of force? He eyeballs Orochimaru, who’s looking…gleeful.</p>
<p>Then Kakashi punches the little girl in the head and he winces. That was probably a knockout shot.</p>
<p>But the little girl grabs his wrist even as she’s falling, counterbalancing herself upright and flipping him with the sudden reversal of the force vector. Kakashi hits the ground before he can replace himself.</p>
<p>He gets away before she can smash her tiny fist into his face. And he thought Kakashi was brutal!</p>
<p>“You’ve been training with Guy.” Kakashi complains.</p>
<p>Ah, she’s been taking pointers from his very youthful ‘not my rival’ rival. That…explains some of what’s going on here.</p>
<p>Kakashi flickers away and flashes through hand seals as fast as he can. He’s not holding back. He prepares to leap forward but the little girl is already hiding behind him, which he thinks is a good call—until Kakashi aims the Doton jutsu at him and he’s forced to deflect it. That’s totally cheating!</p>
<p>Then the technique ends and she jumps right back in. Minato pauses to consider.</p>
<p>They return to scrapping and he wonders if he’s maybe thinking too hard.</p>
<p>Kakashi ducks into the trees and pops out with three basic clones, all making the seals for the Doton jutsu again.</p>
<p>Minato expects her to leap back again, taking cover behind her helpful audience (him) to force them (him) to defend her again.</p>
<p>She leaps forward and smashes Kakashi’s hands apart with the quick snap of a front kick. Kakashi leaps away, panting.</p>
<p>Orochimaru’s eyes are on fire next to him.</p>
<p>“That is sufficient, Honōka-kun.”</p>
<p>Who…who is this little girl?</p>
<p>“She knew which one was real without hesitating—and before that, she knew when the technique’s area of effect ended…this kid, she’s a sensor type?”</p>
<p>“So it would seem.” Orochimaru agrees. There’s a smile tugging at the corners of his lips and Minato wonders if he should be concerned.</p>
<p>“But, how is it possible?” He asks himself, mostly. “She didn’t use any seals or focus her chakra in any visible way…?”</p>
<p>“It would seem that Honōka-kun is an intuitive sensor.”</p>
<p>Minato gapes.</p>
<p>An intuitive sensor—like the second Hokage?! That’s insane! That’s so cool! And frankly, terrifying. Minato feels like he may have just witnessed two future legends duking it out. Wow.</p>
<p>“Come along, Honōka-kun.” Orochimaru beckons. “We have so many options to discuss for your future studies.”</p>
<p>Honōka-chan is going to be <em>so</em> terrifying.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 17 - Tsunade's POV!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Orochimaru!” She shouts after kicking down the door to his office. </p><p>“The door was unlocked.” He responds, dryly, without looking up.</p><p>“Your student is resisting treatment.”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Momiji knocks on her office door and she sits up, stretching until hers spine pops. She’s getting too old to sleep overnight on her office couch. It’s comfortable, but not that comfortable—and worn out.</p><p>“Yeah?” She asks, yawning, jaw snicking. “What is it?”</p><p>“Tsunemori Honōka is awake, Tsunade-sama.”</p><p>Tsunade checks the wall clock and frowns. That was quick—but they did administer less anesthesia than they normally would, due to the kid being underweight.</p><p>“Anything to report about her condition?”</p><p>Momiji shakes her head. “No, Tsunade-sama. Her vitals are all acceptable. Though, maybe, she seemed a bit unresponsive? Possibly from the long sedation.”</p><p>“Alright. I’ll head down to see how she is.”</p><p> </p><p>Tsunade pauses outside the kid’s room door and listens. She hears the kid breathing—always a good sign!—deep, rhythmic, breaths. Meditation? She wonders. Tsunade shrugs and walks in.</p><p>The kid immediately stiffens. </p><p>“Good morning. How are you feeling?”</p><p>“…”</p><p>Tsunade keeps her expression deliberately relaxed. Orochimaru’s kid or not, she just went through a very traumatic event—and, if Orochimaru’s is to be believed, the kid can literally tell what she’s feeling.</p><p>“Any nausea? Itching? You’ve been in a coma for five days. It’s normal if you feel confused or numb right now.”</p><p>“…”</p><p>Right. Was she actually expecting the kid to be talkative? Tsunade checks Honōka’s chart and IV on autopilot.</p><p>When she touches the kid’s IV her heart rate spikes and she swallows. Tsunade lets go of the IV and takes a step back. Was that a fearful reaction?</p><p>“Relax, kid. I’m Senju Tsunade. Your sensei and me go way back.”</p><p>The kid grits her teeth, right eye wandering around the room, eying the door and window particularly enthusiastically.</p><p>She’s not sure what to say to get the kid to calm down, so she talks about the weather. Gods, she’s terrible with kids!</p><p>“I’m going to check your arm now,” she says, forming the seals for the mystic palm technique—her slightly tweaked version, specifically.</p><p>Honōka doesn’t protest so Tsunade goes ahead.</p><p>Which is not the smartest fucking thing she’s ever done—and she’s done some pretty dumb shit before.</p><p>The green glow of her chakra touches the cast over the kid’s right arm and she responds by molding her own chakra in roughly the opposite direction and at the same velocity. The two chakras collide and screech to a halt with a crackling fizzle.</p><p>She immediately steps back, holding both hands up. <em>That</em> could have been very dangerous. What the hell is Orochimaru even teaching this kid?!</p><p>She goes to find him, and throttle him, probably.</p><p> </p><p>“Orochimaru!” She shouts after kicking down the door to his office. </p><p>“The door was unlocked.” He responds, dryly, without looking up.</p><p>“Your student is resisting treatment.”</p><p>He frowns, still not taking his eyes off his microscope.</p><p>“How so? She should hardly be alert enough to resist.”</p><p>Tsunade snorts.</p><p>“She’s alert enough to crudely attempt canceling out my mystic palm technique.”</p><p>Orochimaru looks up from his microscope—and Tsunade thinks he looks nearly as surprised as she felt.</p><p>“She is unusually adept at manipulating chakra in various ways." He mutters. "My apologies, Tsunade. I did not realize she had the necessary control to attempt Taikō Shudan no Jutsu.”</p><p>“You’ve been teaching her countermeasure techniques?!” Does he want her to blow her hand off?</p><p>“Only the theory.” He scowls. “Her chakra reserves are so…small—presently, there is no point in teaching her any jutsu that requires significant amounts of chakra.”</p><p>Orochimaru snorts…fondly.</p><p>“I suppose, she has already taught herself the basics not covered in the Academy—and developed her own sensory technique. I should not be surprised she figured out something as instinctual as the countermeasure technique.”</p><p>Tsunade frowns. Is he…bragging? Orochimaru pushes his hair behind one ear and she notices there are faint dark half circles under his eyes.</p><p>“…Orochimaru, when’s the last time you slept?”</p><p>He thinks about it for a moment, and glares at her for caring to ask. She rolls her eyes.</p><p>“Do you need me to fill you a prescription of sleeping pills again?”</p><p>His lip twitches and Tsunade is floored. Was that…a smile?! One that wasn’t a condescending smirk?!</p><p>Right. Hm.</p><p>“Come on. I need to actually examine the kid and she’s completely freaked out by me.” She thinks she needs Orochimaru to scare some sense into the kid again, or something.</p><p>He nods and gets up—without complaint!—taking the slide from his microscope and depositing it into a stasis seal.</p><p>“Very well.”</p><p> </p><p>When they enter the hospital room the kid is staring blankly at the ceiling, clenching and unclenching the fingers of her left hand.</p><p>Orochimaru walks up to his student and taps his fingers on the bedsheets several times. Tap code. <em>Status report.</em> Orochimaru waits for a moment. She doesn’t respond.</p><p>“Honōka-kun, Tsunade tells me you are being difficult.” He says.</p><p>The kid suddenly snaps out of it, turning her head to face Orochimaru. Her eye focuses, wide red pupil softening.</p><p>“Sensei…?” </p><p>Her left hand creeps over the bedsheets, finding Orochimaru’s sleeve and grabbing onto it. Orochimaru lets her wrinkle his kimono sleeve without flinching.</p><p>“You know very well that Tsunade is a medical-nin with no peer.”</p><p>The kid nods, once.</p><p>“Tsunade is going to check your injuries now. Do not fight her.” He warns her.</p><p>Her jaw clenches and she goes back to staring at the ceiling. She doesn’t let go of his sleeve.</p><p>Tsunade manages to examine the kid’s arm without her freaking out, which is great. She addresses the condition of her fingers and joints to Orochimaru, since the kid clearly doesn't care to listen.</p><p>Then Tsunade reaches for the bandages on her face and she begins trembling like a leaf. Honōka grips Orochimaru’s sleeve tighter. He’ll be seriously lucky to get the wrinkles out of it after this—assuming the kid doesn’t accidentally tear the sleeve.</p><p>She checks the eye with both medical ninjutsu and a small flashlight.</p><p>“Anything?” Orochimaru asks.</p><p>She flicks the light between the good eye and the left eye a few more times.</p><p>“…no.” Tsunade bites her tongue. She knew there was very little chance of restoring any vision…but she had hoped for some. “The eye looks whole and healthy, but the pupillary light reflex is only being triggered by interconnected reflexes.”</p><p>“What about an eye transplant?”</p><p>“A regular eye won’t cut it. The only successful whole eye transplants ever recorded have been with dōjutsu bearing eyes.”</p><p>Orochimaru looks like he’s <em>thinking.</em> Tsunade growls at him.</p><p>“Please do not start a civil war over a single eye, Orochimaru…touching as your concern is.” She sighs. “It’s not like her depth perception is totally shot—the brain takes cues from other things too.” She hopes he realizes that. </p><p>“Her shurikenjutsu is hopeless anyhow.” He clicks his tongue.</p><p>She sputters. Is he…joking—or honestly giving up on her, just like that?!</p><p>His student slowly smiles, and he reaches out, resting his hand on top of her head. Tsunade’s draw drops. Orochimaru—willingly touching another human being? Is she dreaming??</p><p>“There you are. How are you feeling, Honōka-kun?”</p><p>“…Fuzzy. Pins and needles all over.”</p><p>Orochimaru gently pets her choppy curls. “That would be the general anesthesia.”</p><p>The little girl yawns, gap toothed gums showing. Tsunade has to admit—the kid is pretty darn cute. And so small and frail looking.</p><p>“Tired. Hungry.”</p><p>“Will you eat now, or after you rest?” Orochimaru asks.</p><p>His student blinks slowly, and Tsunade realizes the kid hasn’t made direct eye contact with either of them this entire time. She wonders about that.</p><p>“…Now, please.”</p><p>“Very well. Miso soup with tōfu?”</p><p>“And konbu…”</p><p>Orochimaru hasn’t taken his hand away from the kid’s head, and she hasn’t let go of his sleeve. </p><p>They’re both being comforted by the other’s presence, Tsunade realizes.</p><p>“I’ll…go grab that, then.” Tsunade awkwardly flees the room and holds her forehead. Not a fever dream.</p><p>…</p><p>“What the hell…” she whispers to herself. That was… “So fucking cute…!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Side Story! Summer Vacation (that time they almost burned Uchiha-ku down)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Kyōsuke-san!” Obā-chan yells. “Call the fire brigade!”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter takes place during the summer vacation of Honōka's first (and only) year at the Academy.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Obito is undecided about the civilian girl Rin insists they’re going to be friends with.</p><p>She’s <em>weird</em>—and Obito knows all about weird. Weird is Utsusu-onii-san cooing and fawning over his son (Obito’s littlest cousin to date) Shisui. Weird is Obā-chan when she breaks out the old essays of Uchiha Madara and burns incense while drinking a single cup of cheap sake. Weird is Fugaku-onii-san giving Mikoto-nee a tantō and both of them turning red and awkward after. Weird is Yoshino-san getting drunk on the rooftops and cursing like a delinquent until the KKB arrives and drags her off to the station for the night.</p><p>Honōka isn’t that kind of <em>weird</em>—the normal weird, the sometimes embarrassing weird.</p><p>She’s just…<em>different.</em></p><p>But, Rin likes her—and Obito likes Rin.</p><p>Rin is amazing…! Obito thinks he wants to marry Rin someday. He giggles.</p><p>Honōka sighs.</p><p>“Obito-kun—”</p><p>“Just Obito,” he complains, for the hundredth time. “We’re the same age, Honōka.”</p><p>She looks through him. Her bushy black hair and choppy bangs cover most of her face and eyes, so it’s kind of hard to tell whether she’s actually looking at him, or not. He’s been hanging out with her since the first week at the Academy, and he still finds it hard to tell what she’s thinking, or what her mood is.</p><p>The one and only time he saw her eyes (“Woah! They’re so red!”) was during a sparring match. She punched him so hard in the stomach afterwards that he had to be carried to the Konoha hospital by Tora-sensei.</p><p>She apologized to Rin, who apologized to Obito on her behalf. Apparently, she’s self-conscious about her eyes, or something. Maybe he should get her goggles—or give her one of the old pairs he has lying around.</p><p>“Obito,” Honōka says. “Should we stop studying for today? You haven’t wrote a single line since Rin left.”</p><p>He looks at his paper. Honōka wrote some basic lines for him to copy, to improve his writing. It's been helping, a little.</p><p>“I’ll finish it later.” He says, leaning back on his hands.</p><p>She nods.</p><p>“…I guess I should leave now.”</p><p>Obito frowns. He doesn’t have many friends—just Rin, really—but he thinks Honōka might not have <em>any, </em>and that’s just sad.</p><p>“Do you want to hang out for a bit?”</p><p>She blinks a couple times, her eyelashes moving her bangs.</p><p>“I’ll show you a cool jutsu!” He offers.</p><p>She sits up straighter. “Okay.”</p><p>He stands up, shoving his ‘homework’ away to finish up later—and he will!—then grabs Honōka’s hand and pulls her downstairs.</p><p>She feels stiff as a board. Obito wonders if that’s normal. Maybe she’s just shy, like Shisui-chan. She’ll just have to get used to him eventually.</p><p>“Obā-chan! I’m showing Honōka the great fireball technique in the yard!”</p><p>“Don’t catch the grass on fire, again, Obito-chan!” Obā-chan calls back.</p><p>“I won’t, Obā-chan!”</p><p>He grabs his shoes from the front foyer and Honōka follows suit, then leads her to the back engawa.</p><p>“Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu is the Uchiha clan’s specialty—so I can’t teach it to you, okay? But I can show it to you!”</p><p>She nods excitedly and Obito bites his lip. He’s… Well. He’s not that great at it, honestly. But! She’s a civilian—she’ll probably be impressed regardless of the result!</p><p>He makes the seals very deliberately and takes a deep breath in. He says, “Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!” quickly, and blows out. A wisp of fire curls into a tiny fireball and then winks out when the wind blows.</p><p>“…Fire…came out of your mouth…?” Her jaw drops and she claps. “I want to be able to do that!”</p><p>Obito blushes. “Uh, like I said—it’s an Uchiha clan specialty. I can’t teach it to anybody outside the clan…”</p><p>Her shoulders drop. She looks disappointed.</p><p>“But, I can show you a different technique!”</p><p>She perks up again.</p><p>“Ryūka no Jutsu is easier anyhow!” He tells her. “The seals are <em>Snake, Dragon, Rabbit,</em> and <em>Tiger.</em> It’s a fire breathing technique, too!”</p><p>He makes the seals, very deliberately, and takes a deep breath in. “Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!” He releases the rest of his held breath and fire whips around his face. The fire extends like a lashing tongue and spirals across the ground. He quickly goes to stomp out the sizzling grass. Honōka jumps on it to help him.</p><p>“…”</p><p>“Obito, that was awesome!”</p><p>He blushes and rubs his nose. He thinks he might have singed his nose hair. “Hehe! You really think so?”</p><p>She nods again, and her long bangs part around one eye. He avoids meeting her eye—focusing on her cheeks instead. </p><p>A lot of his older cousins and aunts and uncles don’t like making direct eye contact anyhow. It upsets them, sometimes—especially those who have the Sharingan. He might as well get used to it now! </p><p>He’ll have the most awesome Sharingan someday, he’s sure of it!</p><p>“But…why do you say the technique’s name before you use it? Isn’t that kind of counterintuitive? Wouldn’t declaring your next technique in the heat of battle be a bad thing?”</p><p><em>Counterintuitive…?</em> He translates in his head: a bad idea. “…It would be, wouldn’t it?”</p><p>“…”</p><p>“I think, it’s meant to help you focus on what you want your technique to be, or something?” He says. “Like how the hand seals direct the flow of chakra, the name helps you see what the technique will be, in your mind’s eye…or whatever.”</p><p>Honōka thinks about it, and agrees.</p><p>“That makes sense. So—if you have a good mental image of what you want your flames to look like, you should be able to use the technique without having to shout out the name all the time? And, if you know how the chakra for the technique is supposed to flow, you could omit the hand seals as well, right? Jūn-sensei said really experienced shinobi can abbreviate techniques down to just one seal, or even just the time it takes to mold the chakra for the technique.”</p><p>That’s the most he’s ever heard Honōka say, ever.</p><p>“Y-yeah.”</p><p>Honōka makes the seals and takes a deep breath in. She holds it for a moment, cheeks puffed up, and then breathes out with a whoosh. Nothing happens.</p><p>Obito laughs and she pouts.</p><p>“You can’t make the seals and hope for the best! You gotta think like fire!”</p><p>“Think like fire?” She asks.</p><p>“Yeah—you gotta be the flame!”</p><p>“…Be the flame?”</p><p>“Ryūka no Jutsu is a breath technique, so you gotta suck in air for the attack and make it fiery in your belly! You gotta make your chakra hot enough to ignite when you breathe it out, like a dragon!”</p><p>“…How?”</p><p>Good question. He crosses his arms and thinks about it.</p><p>“You gotta…” He takes in a deep breath and lets it out, another deep breath in and another breath out. “You gotta really pull the air down into your lungs, and mold it with the chakra in your belly. But you gotta make it hot too, like fire. And when you breathe out, you purse your lips, like a dragon, so that it doesn’t go everywhere! Like you’re whistling! Like, grrah!” He roars like a dragon, or tries to. “But quieter—because Mai-obā-san lives next door and she gets mad when I make too much noise training.”</p><p>Honōka nods and tries again. Nothing happens.</p><p>“Come on, try it with me. Deep breath in!”</p><p>Honōka hurries to stand next to him. She glances sidelong at him and takes a deep breath when he does.</p><p>“So, <em>Snake, Dragon, Rabbit,</em> and <em>Tiger.”</em>  They make the seals. He takes a deep breath in and holds it, until he’s nearly dizzy. Honōka’s cheeks puff up and turn red after a moment.</p><p>He lets the breath out and Honōka does the same. His makes a steady stream of fire—a step up from the usual lashing whip he’s been fighting with for the last couple months! Maybe shouting the name before breathing out really was messing with his timing?</p><p>Honōka’s technique fails. Or, maybe it does? He thinks he might faintly feel a tingle of chakra on the side of his face—hot, but not fire. It swirls around the small jet of flame he’s breathing out and suddenly it’s like someone added gas to an open flame.</p><p>Both he and Honōka recoil as the flame grows bigger and hotter, and twists like a cyclone before hitting the bamboo fence between their yard and Mai-obā-san’s yard. It instantly ignites and the tall tomato trellis that Obā-san complains blocks the light in their yard goes up in flame soon after.</p><p>“Obā-chan!” Obito shouts. “I caught the yard on fire, again!”</p><p>Obā-chan comes out from the kitchen door with the watering can, expecting a small grass fire. She yelps, dropping the watering can and runs for him and Honōka, grabbing them each by a hand and quickly leading them out of the backyard.</p><p>“Kyōsuke-san!” Obā-chan yells. “Call the fire brigade!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Character Ages!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>As of December 1st, in the current year of the story (redacted[Chapter 85+]), these are the ages of the characters!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Yakushi Kabuto: N/A (not born yet)<br/>DoB: February 29th</p><p>Akimichi Shinku: 0<br/>DoB: July 10th</p><p> </p><p>Akimichi Kōen: 3<br/>DoB: November 29th</p><p>Uchiha Shisui: 3<br/>DoB: October 19th</p><p> </p><p>Uchiha Obito: 6<br/>DoB: February 10th</p><p>Might Guy: 6<br/>DoB: January 1st</p><p>Nohara Rin: 7<br/>DoB: November 15th</p><p>Sarutobi Asuma: 7<br/>DoB: October 18th</p><p>Hatake Kakashi: 7<br/>DoB: September 15th</p><p>Tsunemori Honōka: 7<br/>DoB: June 18th</p><p> </p><p>Shiranui Genma: 9<br/>DoB: July 17th</p><p> </p><p>Aburame Tatsuma: 15<br/>DoB: ??? (Not listed, let’s go with November 16th)</p><p>Sarutobi Kazuma: 15<br/>DoB: April 11th</p><p> </p><p>Uzumaki Kushina: 16<br/>DoB: July 10th</p><p> </p><p>(Uchiha) Yoshino: 16<br/>DoB: February 24th</p><p>Inuzuka Tsume: 17<br/>DoB: August 12th</p><p>Namikaze Minato: 17<br/>DoB: January 25th</p><p> </p><p>Yamanaka Inoichi: 18<br/>DoB: January 24th</p><p>Nara: Shikaku: 19<br/>DoB: July 15th</p><p>Akimichi Chōza: 19<br/>DoB: April 22nd</p><p> </p><p>Uchiha Mikoto: 20<br/>DoB: June 1st</p><p> </p><p>Hyūga Hiashi: 21<br/>DoB: January 8th</p><p>Hyūga Hizashi: 21<br/>DoB: January 8th</p><p> </p><p>Uchiha Fugaku: 26<br/>DoB: August 16th</p><p> </p><p>Katō Dan: 26<br/>DoB: December 4th</p><p>Inuzuka Gaku: 27<br/>DoB: ??? (Not listed, but let’s go with June 11th) </p><p>Senju Nawaki (deceased?): 27<br/>DoB: August 9th</p><p> </p><p>Might Duy: 30<br/>DoB: December 10th</p><p>Jiraiya: 31<br/>DoB: November 11th</p><p>Orochimaru: 31<br/>DoB: October 27th</p><p>Tsunade: 31<br/>DoB: August 2nd</p><p> </p><p>Yamabiko Kōmori (deceased): 40<br/>DoB: March 22nd</p><p>Hatake Sakumo (deceased): 38 (would have been 40)<br/>DoB: September 3rd</p><p> </p><p>Sarutobi Hiruzen: 49<br/>DoB: February 8th</p><p>Shimura Danzō: 49<br/>DoB: January 6th</p><p> </p><p>Ōnoki: 55<br/>DoB: October 8th</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 68 & 69 - Ōnoki's POV!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A small black hand reaches out, so much like the tiny gloved hand of his beloved granddaughter. He hears Teruka screaming in the background, and Tōka-chan hesitates. He leans into her hand, and his face <em>burns.</em></p><p>He can’t bring himself to pull away.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Three little mice scurry across the battlefield beneath him. Ōnoki waits, and he listens.</p><p>They’ve devised an interesting method for avoiding his Dust Release, thanks to the Yellow Flash boy. He’s affixed a variant of the Second Hokage’s Hiraishin seal to the young Uchiha and the demon snake and is supporting them both by teleporting them away from his particle beams. </p><p>He had the same seal placed on him earlier in the day. It was a bit like playing Onigokko, except he was the ‘oni’ and the three Konoha-nin were attempting to catch him instead. </p><p>“Gardening techniques?”</p><p>…</p><p>He hears the young Uchiha snort. Ōnoki rolls his eyes. Leave it to an Uchiha to make a mockery of a life-or-death situation. He blasts a particle beam towards the young Uchiha.</p><p>“Damn geezer has ears like a fox!”</p><p>Ōnoki thinks his hearing has been getting rather dull, no thanks to being in the constant company of Daruma and the other members of the Explosion Corps, and sometimes he forgets to brace his ears with a cushion of chakra. Alas, he is getting old and can’t remember to do <em>everything.</em></p><p>The three Konoha-nin scatter. He halfheartedly corrals the yellow one back into the thick of it. Ahh. His back hurts. He should end this—soon.</p><p>Ōnoki would like to retire after this war—if only his children were interested in leading the village instead of directing architectural projects and agricultural developments. Of course, their passions are for important work in Iwagakure—work he wouldn’t trust with just anyone. And he’ll be damned if he retires and lets their daimyō appoint one of the dunderheads from the Bomb Squad.</p><p>The yellow one jumps away again and he switches his aim at the snake demon and the young Uchiha. Their mouths are <em>constantly</em> moving. Bah! Youngsters.</p><p>He harrumphs and charges up a particle beam and the snake sends a blast of wind his way, knocking him off course. The cutting power of the Fūton jutsu is diminished by the distance between them.</p><p>Ōnoki moves into the cloud of minute dust particles the snake inadvertently stirred into the air for him and he directs a few cubic projectiles as a distraction at the Konoha-nin.</p><p>“He’s joking! Probably!”</p><p>Ah, good. The three mice are together again. He condenses the dust in the air and his own chakra into stone spears. Doton: Ōdosekidake, combined with the added-weight rock technique. It hits the ground with the force of a small meteor. He raises himself higher into the sky, above the ejecta, then condenses the dust and debris into more stone projectiles.</p><p>He pauses after a full minute of continuous shelling. He can’t hear anything beneath the settling dust cloud. Ōnoki snaps his fingers and a spark ignites the suspended cloud of dust.</p><p>He’s not expecting something to shoot from the dust explosion—it’s of such a magnitude that he wouldn’t have expected <em>anything</em> to remain of the three shinobi—but a ball of blood red chakra shoots from the explosion at such speed that his eyes struggle to follow it.</p><p>“Teruka!” he calls. “We’re moving deeper into enemy territory.”</p><p>“But, Tsuchikage-sama—!”</p><p>“Are you Teruka, boy?”</p><p>Teruka’s student shuts up.</p><p>“Is there any point in chasing, Tsuchikage-sama?” Teruka asks. “Our forces are scattered. There’s no advantage for us to push for anymore.”</p><p>“…”</p><p>“Tsuchikage-sama?”</p><p>“I’m getting old, Teruka. Another few years and I won’t be able to take out monsters like Konohagakure no Orochi and that damned Yellow Flash.” And if the young Uchiha has what he thinks he has… well, he’d be a fool not to confirm his suspicions.</p><p>Teruka nods and picks up her student with the light-weight technique. The boy hasn’t caught onto it yet—may never catch onto it—but he’s admittedly one of the brighter members of the Explosion Corps. They take off towards the red orb.</p><p>The explosion sent the Konoha-nin flying several kilometers away; he’s surprised to find them in one piece, and again arguing with each other. Honestly—what are these fools taught at their ‘Academy’? Nothing?</p><p>He aims a particle beam at the snake and youngster first.</p><p>The faded red aura and cracked ribs surrounding the doubled over Uchiha grows a spine and an entire arm, grabbing the tip of the particle beam and twisting it mere millimeters away from his allies.</p><p>“Hmph.”</p><p>He descends a few dozen meters.</p><p>“It really is that… What did Madara call it again…? Susanoo—bah! Supercilious.” And arrogant. “I suppose I should kill you now, before you can finish summoning it into this world, young Uchiha.”</p><p>Teruka and her student land and pursue the snake and yellow one. He monitors the Uchiha’s movements. Half-formed or not, the Susanoo is a formidable technique, and to grab his Dust Release and divert it—refract it…? Ōnoki thinks there may be something different about the young Uchiha’s Susanoo, besides the color.</p><p>The other arm forms, and then a skull with black flames for eyes and no teeth. Ōnoki aims another particle beam at the Uchiha and the Susanoo catches his Dust Release, again.</p><p>He can only stop it for a fraction of a second, Ōnoki notes, then it passes through the dense body of chakra and is diverted, slightly, as though refracted. A curious ability. </p><p>He tests it again, and again, but the particle beam does not once deviate into the main body of the Susanoo, instead being consistently turned away. The Susanoo doesn’t even appear to take damage, which is odd.</p><p>When Madara and Mū-sama fought, he clearly remembers Mū-sama being able to break down Madara’s Susanoo with his Dust Release. Madara’s Susanoo had to recover between strikes, unlike the young Uchiha’s. How very odd.</p><p>A glint of steel in the dark catches his eye and he rises above the trees as the Sword of Kusanagi mows them down in one sweep. Damn! He’d love to know how that snake bastard came into possession of the legendary immortal weapon!</p><p>“About time, Orochimaru!” the Uchiha shouts.</p><p>He glances down, searching for Teruka and her student, Kasai. They’re being engaged by the young upstarts from the Akimichi and Nara clans. He doesn’t see the pony-tailed one—the Yamanaka—so they should be fine on their own.</p><p>The immortal weapon cracks the air like a whip, and he dives away. He watches it closely—they sent the Yellow Flash up the length of the blade to tag him with a Hiraishin seal the last time the snake brought the sword into play.</p><p>He doesn’t see the yellow one anywhere.</p><p>“Where’s the young one? Konoha’s Yellow Flash?” he asks. “Did I get him with that last attack? Bah! Pity.”</p><p>“The boy has no need for your pity, Tsuchikage,” the snake snaps and momentarily loses control of the legendary sword.</p><p>Ōnoki hums. Did he strike a nerve? Interesting. Konoha’s snake Sannin is rumored to be as cold-blooded as his namesake suggests, but that is not the impression Ōnoki receives.</p><p>“It’s getting late, Ōnoki!” the Uchiha shouts.</p><p>He reaches, and the Susanoo imitates him. Madara’s control of his Susanoo was so flawless that he could guide it without twitching a muscle. The younger Uchiha has a ways to go yet, before he masters the technique. Of course, he might never master it—Ōnoki does not plan on letting the young Uchiha live.</p><p>“We sent the kid to bed!”</p><p>Ōnoki chuckles. So much posturing from one so young and green.</p><p>“That’s too bad for you lot. You might have stood a chance with the three of you working against me.”</p><p>“Oh, I think we are managing just fine on our own.”</p><p>He blinks, a deep fatigue hitting him suddenly.</p><p>“Tsuchikage-sama!”</p><p>
  <em>Kai!</em>
</p><p>He breaks the genjutsu, only just avoiding a fatal strike from the Sword of Kusanagi. The sword still pierces his shoulder, and the damned snake jerks the blade hard. He backs off the blade as fast as he can, hardening the area with earth natured chakra the moment he is free.</p><p>“The Uchiha aren’t the only ones who use genjutsu in Konoha, you know?” the Uchiha taunts.</p><p>“I have no idea what you are talking about. Genjutsu is not my strong suit.”</p><p>Damned snake! He snarls against the pain in his shoulder and raises his other arm.</p><p>“Teruka, Kasai. Get back. I’ve had enough fun for one day. It’s time to put the youngsters to bed.”</p><p>Teruka and her student drop their fight with the upstarts and flee behind him. The members of the Explosion Corps take their duck-and-cover drills very seriously.</p><p>His particle beam expands to its largest possible dimension for his current chakra reserves. Unless the Konoha-nin can reverse summon themselves in time, or the Yellow Flash teleports them away, there should be no way for them to escape his technique.</p><p>A massive gate appears just before the technique fires and Ōnoki curses. Rashōmon?! The First Hokage’s technique? How on earth did the snake get a hold of the Rashōmon summoning contract? He grits his teeth and pours more chakra into his jutsu—if it backfires on him because of the gate, he’ll die and take Teruka and Kasai with him.</p><p>The gate screeches, bells clanging against the sides as the entire gate trembles from the force of his jutsu. They go silent as the Dust Release breaks around the gate, disintegrating the decorative bells. Molten metal pools around the gate until it finally collapses, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.</p><p> </p><p>“Kunitsukami: Ashihara no Shikō!”</p><p> </p><p>Ōnoki blinks, wincing against the bright golden reeds and misty white sky. He stares at his hand—he doesn’t understand; he was just firing a particle beam?</p><p>
  <em>Kai!</em>
</p><p>…</p><p>“What is this?” he asks, voice echoing in the dewy air. He can feel the humidity settling in his mustache. How odd. “Genjutsu?”</p><p>
  <em>Kai!</em>
</p><p>…</p><p>He touches the golden reeds and his jaw drops. It’s rice—some variety he’s never seen before, and very generously laden. He strains to see above the stalks, toes digging into the rich sediment. The field carries on and on. His stomach growls.</p><p>What a pitiful excuse of a man he’s become—drooling over a damn genjutsu!</p><p>“Fugaku?”</p><p>The young Uchiha has collapsed, tears and sweat running down his face as his damned Sharingan spins. The snake kneels, expression pinched—concerned—as he weaves seals for what is probably one of Konoha’s superior medical ninjutsu. Yet another thing Konoha refused to share when they proposed <em>‘peace’</em> many years ago. They left the rest of the world to muddle along with their inferior techniques.</p><p>Nothing happens. It seems they cannot mold chakra in this strange place. He palms a kunai and charges through the field, feet sinking into the silty field.</p><p>“I don’t know what in the eight hells the Uchiha brat did—but it should end if I carve out his eyes!”</p><p>The Uchiha’s eyes flutter shut and he goes limp. Unconscious, or dead from chakra exhaustion. Wouldn’t that be convenient?</p><p> </p><p>The world reverts to night sky and smoke and dust. He falls for a moment, before instinctively catching himself with the light-weight technique. </p><p>“What in the hells?” he says again and shakes his head. </p><p>It must have been some kind of illusion after all.</p><p>“No matter.” He forms another drill shaped particle beam. His chakra is reaching its upper limit.  “It won’t matter what it was when I turn you and the young Uchiha into dust.”</p><p>The snake picks up his fallen comrade and prepares to run. The moment he moves, Teruka’s student gets him with perfectly timed stone spears protruding from the ground. He lurches to a stop, biting down on a gasp of pain. He avoids falling over and being impaled by a third spear.</p><p>He frees himself and bares his teeth at Kasai. The boy retreats, but the snake doesn’t pursue. He can barely stand after having a foot and a leg impaled clean through.</p><p>Still, he musters his strength to lift the young (but fully grown) Uchiha above his shoulders and throws him across the clearing, before dropping onto his knees. Ōnoki can admire the man for his determination to save his comrade, even if it’s a futile effort—he’ll be aiming his next attack at the defenseless Uchiha.</p><p>He’ll make it swift.</p><p>“Sensei!”</p><p>Ōnoki freezes. A child’s voice on a battlefield—he dreads to hear it.</p><p>A tiny—<em>tiny!</em>—child leaps in front of the snake, who swings an uncoordinated arm out, attempting to shove the child away. His jutsu reaches its critical point, and he doesn’t have the stamina to hold it back.</p><p>The little girl faces him, arms spread and eyes shining red and gold as the light from the Dust Release bleaches her face bone-white. </p><p>He swears.</p><p>This war is making monsters of them all, he thinks.</p><p>The particle beam aims true, and hits in the center of her chest—then shifts and twists, like water running down a drain. He does not continue sustaining the jutsu, as he can feel a tug already on his chakra. He grimaces. What on <em>earth?</em></p><p>“Honōka…?”</p><p>The girl huffs, spread arms slowly lowering. Then she doubles over, hugging herself about her stomach. She absorbed his jutsu somehow, he thinks, and that can mean nothing good—she’s so <em>small.</em></p><p>A circle of light glows under her arms and through her back.</p><p>“No, no!—”</p><p>The jutsu overwhelms her, and a spear of white light pierces through her abdomen.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>BANG!</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>The little girl falls back, eyes wide open in shock, in death. Blood and liquefied organs spill from the circular hole in her gut. Ōnoki can see straight through it.</p><p>The snake throws himself forward, catching her as she falls.</p><p>He makes the most horrible sound—a sound of mourning and gut wrenching heartbreak. Ōnoki turns his head as the man cries, but he cannot leave him be for long. If he waits too long, the snake may muster himself up again, and Ōnoki doesn’t trust what a man with nothing to lose will do.</p><p>He lands in front of the snake and the little girl he just killed. This war, he thinks, is making monsters of them all.</p><p>“Tsuchikage-sama…” Teruka cautions. “The severed head of a snake can still bite.”</p><p>“I know, Teruka. It’s my duty to dispose of him now, or else Konohagakure no Orochi truly will become a demon snake.”</p><p>Ōnoki lets a kunai drop into his hand from his sleeve. Orochimaru the Legendary Sannin curls over the body of the nameless little girl, pressing his cheek against hers, leaving his neck open and vulnerable. He trembles, but does not tense. He’s ready to die, Ōnoki realizes. He clenches his jaw.</p><p>A shadow grabs onto him, and the snakes leaps back.</p><p>Damned Nara and their damn shadow imitation…!</p><p>“Nara!” the snake roars. “Leave me be! I—I… this… I am done…! This is my end!”</p><p>The Akimichi boy jumps out of the ground and recovers the girl. Ōnoki doesn’t react. He knew he was coming from below with his earth sense. It’s rare for him to be on the ground long enough to use it, so few shinobi know he has it.</p><p>Ōnoki sighs. The upstarts are whispering, and the snake droops like a wilting flower until he’s sitting again, hair hanging in his face and lap.</p><p>“Take the Uchiha—and take the child’s body—I don’t care. But leave the demon snake. Can’t you tell when a man wants to die?”</p><p>“Sorry,” the Nara boy says. “We Konoha-nin don’t get to pick and choose when we roll over and die.”</p><p>He snorts.</p><p>“Is that how Konohagakure creates so many of their demons? By carving away the autonomy of its shinobi until nothing is left but an empty husk for a vengeful demon to occupy?”</p><p>The Nara swallows but has nothing to say back—surprising, Ōnoki thinks.</p><p>“You only have to look at your First Hokage—look at what he made his wife become; look at what his blood brother and sworn friend became—demons that raged until their last breaths. Senju Tobirama the Shiroyasha and Uchiha Madara, the Ghost of the Uchiha. And now that fool Sarutobi emulates them in the name of peace. Bah! There can be no peace while you fools support that oni you call daimyō.”</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>&lt;&lt;Ȍ̶̹ ̴̳̪̾n̷̹̝̾͑ ̸̞͛̀ḯ̸̝̩̊ ̵͕̜̃?̸̖͕̋&gt;&gt;</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>A chill of killing intent creeps around them, so intense it knocks the breath from his lungs.</p><p>
  <em>&lt;&lt;Onī-san… Onī-san… <strong>Ò̴̞̌͂ ̸̲̊̋̄ñ̴̫͔ ̵͚̩̈́̈́i̴̦̓͜ ̸͈̺̂͘?̷̩̻͒̌̕…?</strong>&gt;&gt;</em>
</p><p>The Akimichi boy drops the little girl—not because he is afraid (he is)—he drops the little girl because the flesh of his large hand has melted, and the body of the little girl is emitting thick black mist.</p><p>The black mist thickens and then her body bonelessly rises off the ground, her shape hazy and irregular. The killing intent weighs heavily in the air.</p><p>“Honōka—”</p><p>The black mist condenses until it forms the shape of raincoat much too large for her small body. Two peaks form on the head, like horns underneath a hood. Her face is entirely shadowed. </p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>&lt;&lt;Ichi-nī-nī—Ichi-nī-s-s-san… Ichi, ni, s-san, s-s-shi-shi-Shi-S̷̞̩̉ ̷̹͎́Ḫ̸͗̓ ̵̻̫̉̈́I̴̱͗̎ ̶͇̏N̵̲͆ ̸̨̹̿͝Ī̶͇̮̊ ̸̟̓̏!̴̢͈̈́͐“Why won’t you just die!?”&gt;&gt;</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Kasai collapses, overwhelmed by the presence. The Akimichi boy backs away and trips over his own feet, falling onto his backside. He clutches his ears, whimpering, paralyzed in fear. The snake seems frozen and the Nara boy kneels, hyperventilating.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>&lt;&lt;Ichi-nī, I’m afraid of the dark. Ichi-nī—let me out, I’ll be a g̶̡͚̱̙̦̬̋ͅ ̷̨̨̥͌̈́o̵̝̬̠͈̣̿̑̍͊̔ ̵̡̝̦̳̽̈́͒͋o̷͕͕͙̅ ̴͙̹̼̮̫̦̋͑̃̅̾̎̈́d̴̨̨̥̠͚͓̗̔̕ girl! I promise—! “Why don’t you just disappear?!”&gt;&gt;</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>The limbs of the child twist and flail unnaturally, tiny black clawed fingers tearing at her own body. A flash of white, like bleached bone, shows through in places.</p><p>
  <em>&lt;&lt;~Kagome, Kagome~ Tomoe, who’s that behind you? D̵̞͐ ̶͙̇̓͛ā̷̮̤̀ ̶̝̳̜͝͠r̷̢̖̈̎ ̷̜̊̍͂ȇ̵̬ͅ ̶̪̍̒-̸̙̹̔̋̏ ̷̡̃̃ḍ̶̽̌ ̴̫̞͐̋e̷̟̓͗ ̸͎͎̱̽͋͂s̸͎̑ ̴̢͌̾ǘ̴̦̪ ̷̺̍͆k̴̨͕̟͑̑ ̷̯̲̌̌ã̴͚̗̆?̷̧̦̌&gt;&gt;</em>
</p><p>He hears someone gagging, though he can’t say for certain who it is. He’s transfixed, watching the horror in front of him.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>&lt;&lt;Itai! Itai!—It hurts! Please stop—I’ll be a g̵̱̹̦͐̊̈̚͝ ̵̡̳̙̭̈͒̈́ò̷͕̱̓̕ ̸͎̺̻̅̔ȏ̷̡͍̤͓͋̐͋ ̸̥̝̜͖͌̄͠d̶͖͍̜͎̀͂̚̕͘  girl, I promise, Otō-sama…Otō-sama, please!&gt;&gt;</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>“What the hell is that thing, Tsuchikage-sama?” Teruka whispers. Fear steals the breath and volume from her voice.</p><p>“A fabricated demon, no doubt.” Not even Rōshi and the Yonbi in a temper feel like this.</p><p><em>&lt;&lt;~I’ve found it, my Lord!~&gt;&gt; </em>A voice sings. The girl digs her hands into her face, pulling out more smoke.</p><p>He's heard of ancient seals controlled by song and wonders if something even more terrible is waiting to be released.</p><p>
  <em>&lt;&lt;~The fiery chariot, I’ve found/ Words are as the housing of the soul/ Words are as the existence of the gods/ Sounds are as the meaning of curses!~&gt;&gt; </em>
</p><p>Teruka throws a kunai with an explosive tag at the shadow child. The explosion and kunai are absorbed much the same as his Dust Release was. The child continues… scratching.</p><p>
  <em>&lt;&lt;~Oh my, what is this? This is strange!/ I’ve brought the fiery chariot with me/ Surely, surely/ But instead I found Momotarō!/ The child of the gods, who defeated the gods!~&gt;&gt; </em>
</p><p>The child digs her clawed fingers into her hood and rips out what looks like strands of hair. It can’t be—as her hair is short and somewhat unruly. After a moment, the strands dissolve like wisps of smoke.</p><p>Teruka forms a one-handed seal for a Doton jutsu and slaps her hand to the ground. It splits and the shadow child drops into the earth. Teruka closes the crevice with a loud bang. </p><p>The snake is rasping for them to stop, but Ōnoki ignores him. He’s a fool if he thinks the child is still alive after having her abdominal cavity destroyed by his Dust Release. Whatever possesses her now is only a mockery of life.</p><p>The ground rumbles.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>“̴̟̍Ą̴̓̐ͅr̷̘̍̇r̶̼̪̞̽R̴͖̍̇r̸͈͗ȓ̵ͅG̷̳̳̝͊̐̚r̶͍̫̾ṙ̸̢̻h̵̹̜͉͘h̷̖͛͠h̵͔͔̒͌h̷̞̪̳̏̅Ḩ̷͍̥̾!̵͈̗͍̾”̷̡̛̗͕̿̇ ̵͓̘̇͘</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>&lt;&lt;~However, however/ It doesn’t end there/ This one’s true identity could even be Shuten-dōji!~&gt;&gt;</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>Shuten-dōji?!</em>
</p><p>“Teruka!”</p><p>He grabs Teruka by the arm and scruffs Kasai by his collar, then turns them all weightless and leaps into the sky. Black, velvety limps erupt from the ground, elongated far beyond the natural length of even an Akimichi expansion jutsu. The limbs bend at odd angles, tiny clawed hands grabbing at the air. He shivers.</p><p>The child moves awkwardly through the ground on all fours, half crawling, and half—swimming? The long limbs retract into the smoky raincoat and she stands up and howls. It’s every bit as chilling as the howl of a Bijū, and then some. She tears at her hood and the space where her face should be, again.</p><p>It tears, and he grimaces as the child’s hitai-ate flies off and hits a stone with a metallic clink.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>&lt;&lt;~Dōji, do you miss your mother?/ Dōji, do you hate being discarded by your father?/ Yearning, yearning/ “Mother, I want to meet you.”/ “Mother’s Love” makes the child a demon!~&gt;&gt;</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>The hood dissolves, revealing another layer of shadow shaped somewhat like the girl’s actual hairstyle. Two black horns poke out of the mess, and pure red eyes open in the space where her face should be.</p><p>He thinks, if Shuten-dōji exists <em>exactly</em> as the legends depict... Well, he'd rather deal with Rōshi on a tantrum any day.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>&lt;&lt;~Sure, surely/ A poor child, a pitiable child/ Surely, Surely/ Moreover, the baby is the child of a god/ Having an eye for seeing through anything/ That god is Gozuryū/ I gave him the means to seal those eyes!~&gt;&gt;</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>Ōnoki hits her with another Dust Release.</p><p>“Just, stop!” the snake begs, words turning to gibberish. He’s begging the child to stop. </p><p>The energy she absorbs from his Dust Release swirls and disappears, then erupts as black spears and Ōnoki swerves and dive, dropping Teruka and Kasai to avoid having them skewered.</p><p>Enough is <em>enough,</em> he agrees. He's not prepared to deal with a giant, man-eating oni with an indestructible body. He needs to stop it before it releases whatever seal is connected to that damned chanting.</p><p>Ōnoki charges the shadow child, gritting his teeth as he raises both his injured arm and non-injured arm to form the cubical variant of Jinton: Genkai Hakuri no Jutsu.</p><p>The cube surrounds the child and flashes as the core ignites. The explosion is deafening, and the gray dust from the atomized earth the child was standing on prevents him from immediately confirming the destruction of the little girl.</p><p>He sighs. Of men and monsters and innocent children—this war is determined to make a monster of him.</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>&lt;&lt;Ojī-chan… I’m sorry. I should have listened to you. I’m sorry… I’m sorry. I left you all â̴̤ ̸̻l̷͕̉ ̶̱͝o̷̯̐ ̸͛ͅn̷̫͑ ̷̳̅ẽ̶͕. I’m sorry, Ojī-chan…&gt;&gt;</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>A hand print glows on the wall of the barrier, white like his particle beam.</p><p><em>‘Ojī-chan, I’m leaving first!’</em> </p><p>Ōnoki lands and takes a shaky step closer.</p><p>
  <em>‘I’m sorry, Ojī-chan…! I should’ve listened…!’</em>
</p><p>“Tōka-chan?” he sees an Iwa hitai-ate when he closes his eyes, made to fit a head much larger than the one that bore it proudly. “Is that you, granddaughter of mine?”</p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>&lt;&lt;Ojī-chan…? Are you l̶̥̹̈́ ̷̰̑ŏ̸̯̦̏ ̴̩̼͠n̸̪̅ ̸̘̊ͅȇ̶͙ ̴̞̙͋ļ̵͔͋̌ ̷̥̪̂y̸̠̒? I’ll come visit you every day, so you won’t be l̷o̴n̷e̸l̴y̷! Okā-san might not be around anymore but I am! Please don’t cry, Ojī-chan…I’m still here…&gt;&gt;</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>‘Okā-san is gone, but I’m right here, Ojī-chan!’ … ‘Don’t cry when I’m gone, okay…? Okā-san will smack me good… when I see her again…’</em>
</p><p>Ōnoki drops to his knees and sobs, holding his shaking hands up to the heavens, and he begs to wake up—begs the gods to end their cruel game. He can’t have done it again—<em>not again…!</em></p><p>“Tōka-chan, oh, Tōka-chan! What have I done?!” he sobs. The barrier from the jutsu releases and the dust from the atomic dismantling lingers, smelling faintly of ozone and dust. He feels a nosebleed start and immediately clot from the minuscule particles he breathes in.</p><p>A small black hand reaches out, so much like the tiny gloved hand of his beloved granddaughter. He hears Teruka screaming in the background, and Tōka-chan hesitates. He leans into her hand, and his face <em>burns</em>.</p><p>He can’t bring himself to pull away.</p><p> </p><p>He closes his eyes and sees his Tōka-chan, a perfect ninety-degree angle missing from her left side. A medic-nin works on stabilizing his precious granddaughter, but she’s bleeding too fast—and her ribs, lung, stomach, liver, and intestines are all exposed. Even if the medic-nin knew Konoha’s mystical palm technique—even if Senju Hashirama himself stood before them now—it’d still be too late for his Tōka-chan.</p><p>“I’m sorry, Ojī-chan…!” Tōka-chan chokes out, blood frothing on her lips. “I should’ve listened…!”</p><p>He told her to get back, but she ran forward instead—eager to prove herself in her mother’s stead.</p><p>“Don’t cry when I’m gone, okay…? Okā-san will smack me good… when I see her again…”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Side Story! Akimichi Sachiko I</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“I still don’t think she should marry that ‘spice merchant’ at all. He deals in opium.”</p><p>“Medical opium.”</p><p>Nagihiko scoffs, “Apparently.”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The shinobi leaves. Sachiko returns to the sitting room, easing down onto a cushion again. She sniffs and dabs her eyes, absently rubbing her belly. A tiny foot presses against her palm. Her baby boy doesn’t like it when she cries. </p><p>After she’s certain she won’t break into tears, she stands and heads to the front door. She should make sure Kōen actually went to her mother-in-law’s house. It’s across the street from their house, but there’s also a playground at the bottom of the street—it wouldn’t be the first time her little caterpillar got distracted crossing the road and ended up at the sand pit instead. </p><p>She steps into her sandals and opens the door, nearly jumping out of her skin in fright. Her father-in-law hovers just outside the door, hand raised to knock on the wooden frame. </p><p>Sachiko clutches her chest, soothing her racing heart. “Otō-san! You scared me!”</p><p>“Apologies, Sachiko-chan… Didn’t realize you were in the entryway. Quiet as a mouse, you are.”</p><p>She titters nervously. How many times has she surprised a ninja by being as unobtrusive as possible, she wonders. She once scared poor Chōza-kun so thoroughly he drew a kunai on her. Nagihiko wouldn't speak to his cousin for an entire week. </p><p>“I didn’t realize you were standing outside, Otō-san. You weren’t even casting a shadow on the shōji screen!” </p><p>“…” her father-in-law clears his throat. “Learned a few things, working with the Nara and all.”</p><p>Sachiko nods. She didn’t know much about ninja—<em>shinobi</em>—but marrying Nagihiko and moving to Akimichi-chō has taught her several things about shinobi and their lifestyles. For instance, she knows the Nara Clan are famous for their shadow related ninja techniques. She wonders if there is a technique for not casting a shadow?</p><p>“I just saw Orochimaru leaving. Everything okay, Sachiko-chan?”</p><p>She nods. She can’t remember if she asked the shinobi his name or not—which isn’t necessarily rude. Some shinobi don’t like introducing themselves to civilians. Better to let the ninja folk do as they please than to assume they’ll conform to the expectations of polite society…</p><p>Did Torifu say ‘Orochimaru’, like the Sannin? <em>That</em> Orochimaru?</p><p>She sits down on the step. Oh dear. She didn’t even offer him tea or refreshments.</p><p>“Did Kōen make it over?” she asks.</p><p>“Chōko wrangled him in for lemonade. Little tyke was standing in the middle of the road eying the park again.”</p><p>She laughs, weakly. Kōen is not great at following instructions. He’s only three, though; what did she expect? She’s just glad their neighborhood is so well protected. She never has to worry about Kōen getting lost or being approached by strangers.</p><p>“What did Orochimaru want?”</p><p>Sachiko frowns. What did he want? She’s not entirely sure.</p><p>“Um—he asked a few questions about my little sister.”</p><p>“Manaka-chan? Did something happen to her?”</p><p>“Oh, no, not Manaka-chan. He was asking about my youngest sister… Honōka-chan. The one attending the Academy.”</p><p>Torifu nods and the frown lines around his mouth deepen. </p><p>“She must be something, catching Orochimaru’s attention as a student.”</p><p>“Honōka-chan graduated in March,” she says. “Mikumo told me she’s apprenticing now.”</p><p>“…” Torifu rumbles. “So the rumor about him having a student is true…”</p><p>She bites her lip. Her sister is apprenticing under such a famous shinobi? Should she have told him all that she did? What if he thinks Honōka is weak or unsuited to shinobi work because of her?</p><p>“Sachiko-chan?”</p><p>“I’m fine, Otō-san. The heat is just getting to me today.”</p><p>“Here,” he stoops and offers her his arm. “I’ll help you to the kitchen. You should have something cold to drink. Don’t worry about Kōen-chan. Chōko’ll wear the tyke out for you.”</p><p>She nods and accepts Torifu’s help. Just as she stands, there’s a sharp rap on the door. Torifu gestures for her to stay and opens the door, revealing her youngest brother.</p><p>Sweat runs down Mikumo’s forehead, and he hurriedly dries it on his sleeve when he sees Torifu standing in the genkan. His curly straw-colored hair is pinned down with an alligator clip, but pieces here and there still stick up.  </p><p>“Good afternoon, Akimichi-sama—”</p><p>“Torifu’s fine, Mikumo-kun.”</p><p>Mikumo flushes. “Ah, right, Torifu… sama…”</p><p>Torifu sighs. They’ve had this conversation several times now.</p><p>“What is it, Mikumo?” she asks. He grimaces. Nothing good, then. “Come in, I’ll get you some chilled juice.”</p><p>Mikumo toes off his sandals, “I can’t stay for long. Boss wants me back in an hour.”</p><p>She clicks her tongue. Mikumo’s teacher is a wonderful tool smith, but also something of a slave driver. She thinks Mikumo picked him for that exact reason. No other smith in the village requires their apprentices to be live-in students. Mikumo’s teacher is also a retired shinobi, so there is that.</p><p>She pours juice for them, and even the largest mug is comically small in her father-in-law’s hand.</p><p>Mikumo takes a deep drink from his cup and winces. Perhaps the fridge is too cold again—or maybe she put too much red pepper in the juice blender. </p><p>“Nē-san… don’t freak out, okay? Manaka told me not to tell you because it’s bad for the baby, but I thought it’d be worse if you heard it from someone else first, so…”</p><p>Sachiko feels her heart sinking. Of course the shinobi—Orochimaru—wasn’t asking about her sister out of idle curiosity. Something happened to her.</p><p>Mikumo licks his lips and glances at her father-in-law, and then away again. Her new family aren’t exactly aware of her family’s circumstances. She made Nagihiko swear not to talk about it. She doesn’t doubt some of her in-laws noticed some things about her—most of them are shinobi, after all—but she’d prefer if the ‘civilian’ members of her extended family remained ignorant. Sachiko doesn’t want them to speculate about Nagihiko being married to ‘damaged goods’.</p><p>“Something happened to Honōka-chan.” </p><p>Mikumo nods.</p><p>“How… how is she?”</p><p>Mikumo hunches his shoulders.</p><p>“I don’t know. I tried to see her earlier this week, but she’s a legal adult, technically. The med-nin person told me I couldn’t see her unless I was on a list approved by her—family or not.”</p><p>She bites her lip again, and Torifu puts his empty cup in the sink.</p><p>“I’ll check on Kōen-chan. Give me a shout if you need anything, Sachiko-chan.”</p><p>He leaves and they wait for the door to shut behind him.</p><p>…</p><p>
  <em>Click.</em>
</p><p>“Did, did Manaka-chan see anything?”</p><p>“Uh… well—Honōka-chan stabbed him a bunch.”</p><p>“Is he…?” dead?</p><p>“…no.”</p><p>“Oh, that’s…”</p><p>“…Too bad, right?”</p><p>She nods. Mikumo chuckles, mirthlessly.</p><p>“Did Manaka-chan say anything else?”</p><p>“I’m not sure I should repeat everything she told me.”</p><p>“Mikumo… I’m not some delicate flower.” She pats her stomach. “Motherhood is toughening me up, I think.”</p><p>Mikumo’s mouth quirks up in a small grin.</p><p>“It suits you, you know? I’m happy for you.”</p><p>She nods once, and waits for him to tell her more. He sighs.</p><p>“…Manaka said he tortured Honōka-chan, Sachi-nē.”</p><p>Oh.</p><p>Sachiko puts her head on the kitchen table and breathes out a long, stuttering breath.</p><p><em>Torture?</em>  He <em>tortured</em> her? </p><p>“Do you think the shinobi she’s apprenticing under, her sensei, will take her in?” she asks.</p><p>“Gods, I really hope so.” Mikumo plays with his empty cup. “She can’t go back. He’ll kill her—or she’ll kill him. I don’t know what would happen to her career as a shinobi if she killed him. Maybe nothing, maybe something bad. Either way, I’d rather not find out.”</p><p>Sachiko doesn’t respond—keeps her mouth firmly shut. She’s afraid of what she might say if she does open it.</p><p>She remembers telling their father, Tsunemori Keisuke, she wished he were dead—to his face. She was ten and liked listening to the shinobi customers banter about their latest missions. She thinks she drew a bit too much inspiration from their (no doubt exaggerated) stories. He promised to make her wish <em>she</em> were dead.</p><p>And for a while, it worked.</p><p>Sachiko doesn’t know where she would be if the Akimichi Clan and Nagihiko turned down her family’s marriage proposal. No where, probably. Dust on the wind, maybe. Buried in a ditch somewhere, she thinks.</p><p>“Sachi-nē, am I doing the right thing? I promised I would never leave Manaka, or Honōka-chan, alone… but here I am, working as a live-in apprentice, leaving them both behind. I thought… I thought Honōka-chan becoming a shinobi meant she would be safe—but she wasn’t. What About Manaka? Is she safe? I know her wedding is soon—within this year or the next. He eased off you before you married, didn’t he?”</p><p>Sachiko bites her cheek until she tastes blood.</p><p>“I think… I think Manaka-chan should come stay with me. I’ve been… feeling unwell—bedridden, actually—and it’s becoming burdensome for my elderly in-laws to continue watching my young son. Nagihiko is, of course, busy with work—as is proper for a man of his upbringing.”</p><p>Mikumo’s expression hardens with resolve. “I’ll tell her, right away. What kind of sister is she, leaving you to struggle through a difficult pregnancy on your own?”</p><p>“…”</p><p>“…What about Okā-san?”</p><p>“Mikumo… Okā-san is… I…” Sachiko struggles to find the words. She doesn’t know how to tell Mikumo some people die before they’re dead.</p><p>She doesn’t know if she can forgive their mother for abandoning them to their father's abuse.</p><p>“What about your boss—didn’t you say he wanted you back in an hour?”</p><p>Mikumo shrugs. “What’s he going to do—yell at me? Don’t care. Fire me? He can have fun finding someone else to be his gopher—cantankerous old man. Do you know he had me deliver flowers to this old gal up the street? Mitsuha, I think. They’re rivals, or something. She spit on the flowers and told me to bring them back to him. He almost cried.”</p><p>Sachiko laughs.</p><p> </p><p>Manaka comes to stay with her on July first. She has a fresh bruise on her cheek she blames on a slip from wet floor at the baths when Nagihiko asks. He doesn’t comment on the knuckle shaped contour and brings her a bruise paste and ice pop for the swelling. </p><p> </p><p>“Sachiko,” Nagihiko says when they’re both lying awake in bed that night. “You need to tell someone about your father.”</p><p>“…”</p><p>“He almost killed your youngest sister, and she’s a shinobi. Manaka-chan can’t go back. She doesn’t stand a chance against that man.”</p><p>She sighs and jams a pillow between her knees. Her hips are aching. If this baby is another four kilograms, she’s going to kindly request her husband to have a vasectomy. He would do it, if she asked.</p><p>“Honōka—”</p><p>“Honōka isn’t in a position to do anything about Tsunemori Keisuke. Not anymore. Shinobi and civilians don’t mix affairs, Sachiko.”</p><p>“They won’t do anything about him?” she asks. </p><p>“They aren’t allowed to. Legally, civilians are outside shinobi jurisdiction.”</p><p>“Oh…”</p><p>“That being said, if he ends up in a ditch with ‘alcohol poisoning’ or mysteriously disappears, I won’t be surprised.”</p><p>It’d be a joyous surprise, she thinks.</p><p>Nagihiko runs his fingers through her hair, gently scratching her scalp.</p><p>“Right now though, we need to think about how to keep Manaka away from that man for as long as possible.”</p><p>“Until her marriage next April?”</p><p>He hums.</p><p>“I still don’t think she should marry that ‘spice merchant’ at all. He deals in opium.”</p><p>“Medical opium.”</p><p>Nagihiko scoffs, “Apparently.”</p><p>She smiles sadly.</p><p>“Do you have any cousins willing to buy them out?”</p><p>Nagihiko rumbles. He’s like a big cuddly cat, she thinks—a spotted leopard, maybe, with all the freckles. He can be as fierce as one, despite being ‘non-shinobi’.</p><p>Akimichi-chō has a recurring problem with sumo wrestlers—she’s seen her husband scruff a man twice his size (and he is by no means a small man himself) and toss the wrestler out on his ass in the streets. </p><p>She fell in love with her husband again that day.</p><p>“Might not need to buy the spice merchant out if that bastard gets arrested. Your father’s the one who signed the prenuptial agreements, right?”</p><p>She nods. </p><p>“If he gets arrested, that would void the contract.”</p><p>She nods again.</p><p>“How… how do I build a case against my father?”</p><p>“We talk to my dad and see about hiring a lawyer.”</p><p>She stiffens. It all seems so… out of reach. Sachiko’s never heard of anybody being arrested or even fined for hitting their own children… because everybody must do it, right? She hasn’t, obviously, and Nagihiko would fight anybody who told him Kōen should be spanked for throwing a tantrum in public.  </p><p>Maybe a lot of people punish their kids by spanking them… it’s still not right, but it happens.</p><p>But not everybody tortures their children or beats them half to death, and no child should be raised at the mercy of their parents.</p><p>Nagihiko lays his hand on her baby bump.</p><p>“We’ll think about all that later, okay? Right now, you just focus on you and the baby.”</p><p>She threads her fingers through his and concentrates on feeling the baby slowly roll over. Her baby doesn’t have the space for big movements anymore, though he still occasionally stretches his legs out, jamming his little feet into her poor bladder.</p><p> </p><p>July 10th</p><p> </p><p>Her son is born early in the afternoon at their own residence with the help of a trusted Akimichi midwife, weighing a healthy three and a half kilograms. He has a full head of dark hair, differing from his older brother Kōen—who was almost bald when he was born—and has inherited her family’s unruly curls, in the same shade of black as Honōka. </p><p>Her own little black sheep. </p><p>She smooths down his curls and he puckers his mouth, flashing his tongue cutely. He’s hungry again—she knows the cues well. There is no doubting this little one is an Akimichi.</p><p>He scrunches up his nose and his eyelids crinkle. He opens his eyes as wide as they’re willing to open at just a few hours old and Sachiko’s jaw drops.</p><p>“Na-Nagihiko…! Come here, quick!”</p><p>Nagihiko jumps up from the cushion he’s been napping on and drops next to her.</p><p>“Sachiko, what is it?”</p><p>“His eyes, Nagihiko, look!”</p><p>Her baby squirms at the noise she’s making, and curls his fingers into a tiny fist.</p><p>“Oh, wow. They’re <em>really</em> red. You weren’t kidding about your sister’s eyes, were you?”</p><p>He cries and Nagihiko supports her while she sits up, helping her to cradle their baby while he latches and nurses greedily. </p><p>“Have you decided what his name will be?” Nagihiko whispers, stroking their baby's velvety skin.</p><p>“…Is it okay if we call him Shinku?” </p><p>She named Kōen in honor of her youngest sister—both for the color of her beautiful eyes and the character of fire she drew insistently on the ground in the backyard of their old home, claiming her identity with clear intent. </p><p>Sachiko feels like it’s only right she names her second son with the same character again, crimson—so he can one day claim his identity just as Honōka did. </p><p>“Shinku, huh?” Nagihiko says. “Sounds right to me.”</p><p> </p><p>Sachiko sits in front of Akimichi Torifu and takes a deep breath.</p><p>“Otō-san,” she says, “I want to tell you about my little sister today. About Honōka-chan.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Side Story! Orochimaru and Manda</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“So you <em>are</em> a summons. May I sign the summoning contract?”</p><p>The snake freezes, staring him down with a mean look. Orochimaru reciprocates, stubbornly refusing to blink until the snake moves first.</p><p> </p><p>  <strong>“I’m going to eat you.”</strong></p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Orochimaru is nine when he finds Ryūchi Cave—completely on accident, as it would so happen.</p><p> </p><p>He’s doing a survival exercise in the wilderness with his teammates north of Konoha. They have three days to find their way back together—or not at all. </p><p>Or so Sensei says.</p><p>They lost sight of each other an hour into the exercise after Sensei’s shadow clones attacked them. Every time they’ve come close to regrouping since, another clone has appeared. He’s not sure what Sensei is trying to prove, or teach them, other than the basic principle of ‘divide and conquer’. Is he expecting them to overcome his efforts to keep them separated and overwhelm him together?</p><p>Orochimaru sighs and sits down.</p><p>Sensei can be brutal, but if he sulks long enough, he’ll either give them a (much needed) hint, or lower the difficulty of the exercise. He’s not above tricking Sensei into going easy on them—especially after he kidnapped them from their beds and dumped them in the wild without warning. </p><p>He should have accepted Jiraiya’s offer of a homemade sealing scroll—unstable as it probably was. He would have more than the clothes on his back and the kunai he stole from Sensei if he had.</p><p>Orochimaru picks a leaf out of his hair and studies the minute branching veins for a moment, then twirls the stem between his thumb and forefinger. He hears Jiraiya screaming in the distance. Sarutobi-sensei is focusing most of his attention on Jiraiya—has been ever since the idiot reverse summoned himself to Mount Myōboku last spring. </p><p>He hasn’t told Sensei, but he’s tried the summoning technique too. Nothing happened. He must not be compatible with <em>any</em> summons, he thinks.</p><p>Orochimaru sighs again and tosses the leaf. </p><p>The ground trembles. He frowns. There’s no way Sensei is fighting Jiraiya that intensely…?</p><p>The ground <em>sighs</em> and Orochimaru freezes. </p><p>
  <strong>“I was hoping for something a little bigger to eat, but I suppose you’ll do, little shinobi.”</strong>
</p><p>The ground roles under his feet, and what he thought was a patch of rough river stones is actually the scales of a massive snake. He scrambles away, but every step he takes lands on another coil.</p><p>A blurry head rushes at him, and he substitutes himself with a thick branch from a nearby tree. The snapping jaws of the camouflaged snake reduces the wood to pulp and splinters. He swallows and hides himself in the trees.</p><p>The camouflage melts away, revealing a colossal serpent of deepest purple. Orochimaru warily eyes the snake’s horns and bared fangs. Its massive tongue splits the air and he winces at the whip-like crack.</p><p>He didn’t know snakes like these existed. He thinks Sensei must not have realized either—he wouldn’t have them training so close to such creatures if he knew, survival exercise or not.</p><p>The snake raises its head, waving it slowly back and forth. There are pits in the scales between its eyes and nose, meaning the specimen is likely a pit viper, he thinks. The pits, the loreal pits, are a sensitive infrared-detecting organ common to most vipers, like the local venomous mamushi snake.</p><p>Oh. It can see him then. It might be a good idea for him to run and fast, preferably towards Sensei.</p><p>Orochimaru leaps from his hiding place in the tree and the snake intercepts him with the end of its tail. He dodges, but only just. The snake is incredibly agile, despite its large body. </p><p>“Sensei!” he shouts, projecting his voice with all the breath he can muster, and a fair amount of chakra too.</p><p>
  <strong>“It’s no use, little shinobi—you’ve crossed into my territory now. No one can hear your pathetic cries for help.”</strong>
</p><p>“Your territory?” he asks—anything to keep the snake distracted from eating him. “This is the Land of Fire—all claimed territories must be approved by the Fire Daimyō.”</p><p>The snake puffs up its throat and Orochimaru worries for a moment that it’s going to unleash a breath attack on him, or spit venom. Some snakes can do that.</p><p><strong>“Approved by the Fire Daimyō?”</strong> the snake hisses. <strong>“I don’t need no humans approval! We were here first! It’s you pathetic little two-leggers that should be seeking our approval—encroaching on our sacred land, dirtying the earth and the wind and the water with your human filth!”</strong></p><p>‘We’? Orochimaru thinks, and ‘our approval’?</p><p>“There are more like you?”</p><p>The snake growls, though the word only loosely defines the rumbling vocalization.</p><p>“You are a summons.”</p><p><strong>“Hah!”</strong> the snake huffs. <strong>“I ain’t no pathetic human summons, like that bitch Katsuyu—or the Sage’s ass kissers. Fucking toads… traitors, the lot of them.”</strong></p><p>“Are you, or are you not, a summons?”</p><p>The snake slams down its tail, and Orochimaru nearly falls over as the ground buckles under his feet. He thinks the snake has terrible aim—or deliberately missed. He’s not sure which he prefers.</p><p>
  <strong>“…A summons needs a summoner to be summoned, and a summoner needs to sign the contract to perform a summoning. We snakes have no summoner, therefore we ain’t no fucking summons!”</strong>
</p><p>Orochimaru frowns. This snake is rude—and stupid. He wonders if it can be considered ironic that a snake should be so bad at circular reasoning.</p><p>“So you <em>are</em> a summons. May I sign the summoning contract?”</p><p>The snake freezes, staring him down with a mean look. Orochimaru reciprocates, stubbornly refusing to blink until the snake moves first.</p><p>
  <strong>“I’m going to eat you.”</strong>
</p><p>Orochimaru runs—but not away. Jiraiya said he needed to prove himself before the toads would let him sign their contract, and he’s determined to prove himself to this foul-mouthed snake.</p><p> </p><p>Three days later he’s exhausted and on the verge of collapse, but is now sitting before a large and ancient looking shirohebi while Manda—the purple snake he fought for three nights and days—slinks away to lick his wounds.</p><p>His vision is fuzzy from chakra exhaustion and he has more cuts and bruises than he’s ever had before—even the vicious beatdown he received from Tsunade after innocently offering her haircare advice does not compare.</p><p>The snake on the dais chuckles and he sits up straight.</p><p>
  <strong>“You did well, little hatchling. Manda eats all trespassers, but you have made him accept you today. This is the first contact we have made with the outside world in many years, and you made it quite the… <em>memorable,</em> first meeting.”</strong>
</p><p>“Thank you…” he’s not sure what this snake is called. Manda didn’t tell him, and there’s no information on any snake summons in Konoha.</p><p>Orochimaru looked after he found the shed snakeskin on his parents’ grave. He thought it was a sign—and was disappointed when his search for answers proved futile.</p><p>He wonders if the snakeskin was just a coincidence, wonders if his meeting with Manda was also a coincidence. He doesn’t know anymore. It’s weird that it happened twice, he thinks. If something similar happens again, he might have to reconsider.</p><p>
  <strong>“I am Daitenja, the White Snake Sage.”</strong>
</p><p>He nods. The toads have a sage too. Gama Sennin, Jiraiya said.</p><p>
  <strong>“And you are?”</strong>
</p><p>He blinks.</p><p>“Orochimaru.”</p><p>The snake sage laughs and the cavern trembles. A stalactite hits the ground somewhere behind him. He’s too tired to flinch, or glare, or blush. He feels like doing all three.</p><p>
  <strong>“Ambitious, aren’t you, little hatchling?”</strong>
</p><p>He’s been calling himself Orochimaru for years now—ever since he learned his parents were not killed in action during the first war, but were instead executed for experimenting with kinjutsu. Sensei told him the former lie—breaking into his office told him the latter truth.</p><p>He wonders what they were experimenting with. It must have been terrifying if the Second Hokage ordered their immediate execution. Hypocrite.</p><p>Orochimaru jolts when the tip of a very large (and very dangerous) tongue ghosts over his face.</p><p><strong>“Hm,”</strong> the snake sage rumbles. <strong>“I wonder…”</strong></p><p>Orochimaru wipes his face with the back of his hand. Gross.</p><p>
  <strong>“Kurōto, bring the contract.”</strong>
</p><p>He almost sags in relief. He was afraid the snake sage would deny him the summoning contract, even after all he went through to get here.</p><p>A relatively large snake with solid black scales on top, white on bottom, and red stripes under both eyes, approaches.</p><p>They flick their tongue in greeting, winks (snakes don’t have eyelids—<em>kai!</em>), and regurgitates a scroll the size of his forearm. Gross.</p><p>He leans forward and opens the scroll. There are three signatures. He’ll be the unlucky fourth.</p><p>Orochimaru reads over the last signature. His heart races.</p><p>Enoshima Mitsue.</p><p>The family name is familiar to him. It’s <em>his.</em> Enoshima… a bay island. It was a common surname in the Land of Waves, south of the Land of Fire. The small island nation had many shinobi—most of whom moved to Konohagakure during the first shinobi war. It was safer to pick a side than to wait for the war to arrive on their doorstep—or so the history books will say. It’s more likely the shinobi were conscripted against their better judgment. Threatened. </p><p>Mitsue is not a name that is familiar to him.</p><p>His father’s name was Shion, and his mother’s name was Azusa. However, his father’s name could have been spelled with the character ‘four’, and Enoshima Mitsue spelled their name with the characters ‘three’, ‘ford’, and ‘branch’.</p><p>His name, the name he was born with—Yashagorō—means demon, and fifth son. He is not a fifth son, so he always wondered about that.</p><p>
  <strong>“Ah, I thought so. The name sounds familiar to you, doesn’t it, little hatchling?”</strong>
</p><p>He nods, numbly.</p><p><strong>“Enoshima Mitsue was our last summoner, and the only summoner to have received my gift and survived.”</strong> The sage tells him. <strong>“I see that gift had unforeseen… consequences.”</strong></p><p>Consequences…? Orochimaru touches the purple markings adorning his unusual eyes. Eyes that are the same eerie yellow as the White Snake Sage’s.</p><p>Orochimaru bites his thumb with his too-sharp canine teeth and signs his name—the one he was born with—unashamed for the first time in a very long time. <em>Enoshima Yashagorō</em>.</p><p> </p><p>He remembers nothing after signing—then he’s waking up and Sensei is carrying him back to the village in his arms, Tsunade and Jiraiya trailing after them, bruised and dirty.</p><p>He squirms, and Sensei quickly lets him down.</p><p>“You’re awake!” Jiraiya shouts. “I was worried about you, bastard—!”</p><p>Tsunade punches Jiraiya in the gut, hard.</p><p>“We were so worried about you, Orochimaru! What happened?”</p><p>“I signed the snake summoning contract.”</p><p>His teammates take a moment to digest that and then erupt into cheers. Tsunade jumps up and down and Jiraiya pats him roughly on the back.</p><p>Sensei’s expression from the corner of his eye looks apprehensive, but when Orochimaru turns the look is replaced with one of quiet pride. Sensei lifts his hand and pats him on the head.</p><p>“Good job, Orochimaru. Your family would be proud of you.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>“Your family would be proud of you…”</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Side Story! Sakumo in the Purelands I</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sakumo hadn’t planned on there being an <em>after.</em></p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>“Ahhh… he threw the mission and couldn’t deal with the consequences? He should have just died when he had the chance.”</em>
</p><p>Sakumo frowns. It’s cold and dark, and yet he feels like he’s floating. Where is he?</p><p>He gets a face full of slobber and balks, pushing Chokorēto’s muzzle out of his face.</p><p>“Enough, I’m awake!” he opens his eyes to face the day and freezes. “Oh.”</p><p>Right. He died.</p><p>Sakumo sits up. He’s not floating—there’s cold, hard stone beneath him, stretching as far as the eye can see. Which isn’t very far. It’s dark.</p><p>Chokorēto sits next to him, the long beige fur on her tail sweeping the stone furiously. Pokkī and Sushi are waiting just behind her, faces solemn. He feels tears gathering in his eyes and hangs his head.</p><p>He really fucked up this time. </p><p>“I’m sorry, you guys. This isn’t how I imagined it would end.”</p><p>He hadn’t imagined there being any end at all—just thought one day he would die and that would be it. </p><p>Sakumo hadn’t planned on there being an <em>after.</em></p><p>But here he is, <em>after.</em> Some cosmic being clearly thought his life wasn’t a big enough joke as it was and decided he should feel as guilty in the grave as he did with two feet firmly on the ground.</p><p>Chokorēto licks his tears away before they can fall and yips at him.</p><p>Oh. He tries to hold tears in. Of course they can’t speak anymore—the dog contract ends with the death of the summoner. Their connection is gone—they can’t share each other’s languages anymore.</p><p>“What are you guys still doing here?”</p><p>Chokorēto paws his shoulder, still cleaning his face. He guesses she still remembers all the human mannerisms she picked up, since she’s clearly trying to pat his shoulder. Though, some of her more canine instincts are making a resurgence now that the contract is void.</p><p>“Kisses are not for shinobi…” he reminds her, sniffling.</p><p>Chokorēto slobbers his face good and he laughs. She never was any good at following the rules. Pokkī and Sushi take his laughter as permission to get in on the fun and he suddenly has three dogs peppering him with smooches and trying to sit in his lap. He feels Pokkī’s pointy little nails digging into his stomach, but it doesn’t even hurt—and it never will again.</p><p>
  <em>“Can you blame him? I’d rather die than bear the shame of failure too.”</em>
</p><p>Sakumo freezes. He hears laughter coming from somewhere nearby. He looks up and blinks several times. Blinded by the sudden change in scenery.</p><p>He’s staring at the Konoha graveyard. He glances down, finding his feet oddly transparent—but he is a ghost, so maybe that’s normal. Chokorēto and the boys are also flummoxed by the change in scenery and chase each other around the graves, growling and snapping at each other—no doubt passing the blame back and forth.</p><p>
  <em>“What’s stopping you then?!”</em>
</p><p>Sakumo jumps—float?—about a meter in the air.</p><p>He spots the little girl from the Academy, the one that kicked Kakashi in the head at the entrance exam. Kakashi was so afraid he wouldn’t get in because he lost in a spar against her! </p><p>The little girl—Hanako, Honōko…? Honōka!—is red in the face, baring her teeth at Tetsunosuke and Iba from… from his last mission. </p><p>Where was his last mission again?</p><p>He thinks someone may have tried to comb her hair—it’s less messy than when he saw her at the Academy that one time. He assumed she was an orphan, though Kakashi later told him her parents owned the Tsunemori-ya in the Steam District. </p><p>Her grandmother must have been Tsunemori Hanako—who he thinks is definitely rolling in her grave at the state of her granddaughter’s hair. She threw a hairbrush at his head when he was a teenager. She didn’t miss, either. He also has a fuzzy memory of her chasing him with a lice comb when he was a boy. Scary woman. </p><p>
  <em>“If you can’t bear the shame of doing the right thing, you have no right coming here to complain!”</em>
</p><p>Sakumo grimaces. She has her grandmother’s lung capacity. And that glare—it’s practically glowing behind her curly bangs… actually, he’s pretty sure her eyes are glowing. He floats closer to get a better look…</p><p>
  <em>“Leave!”</em>
</p><p>…and turns back around. Kids are scary these days!</p><p>What’s even going on here? Why is he even seeing this? He died—he knows he did. It’s fuzzy, but he knows he did. He—</p><p>Oh, Sage! Kakashi!</p><p>Sakumo scans the graveyard and spots Kakashi’s head of silver hair and flickers over to him. (He actually floats over at a snail’s pace—it doesn’t matter how hard he wills himself to move faster; he moves at the same, slow rate.)</p><p>His son’s shoulders are trembling, and his mask is damp from catching tears and snot.</p><p>“Oh, Kakashi… I am so sorry…!”</p><p> </p><p>Sakumo stays for as long as he can, but he feels himself slipping away. He closes his heavy eyes for just a second, and when he opens them again, he’s back in the void where the stone carries on as far as the eye can see.</p><p>He hears a distant rumble of thunder and stands up. Chokorēto woofs at him.</p><p>“How long was I out?” he asks, forgetting that she can’t exactly tell him.</p><p>Chokorēto shakes her fur out, pointed ears flopping loudly in the silence. Pokkī and Sushi are gone, but he doesn’t begrudge them for leaving first. They weren’t the type to sit around waiting patiently for the next mission.</p><p>He hears another rumble of thunder and suddenly rain is pouring down all around him, so hard the spray of the drops creates a fine mist near the ground as it slaps the rocky terrain. The sky is pink on the horizon and he hears the ocean in the distance. </p><p>A weight settles in his gut and he allows himself to be pulled, guided by an unseen force.</p><p>There’s been a landslide, he realizes—and a battle. He thinks he’s somewhere south-southwest. He’s been on missions in this part of the Land of Fire before—during the second war. Suna, Tani, and Kiri frequently squabble over this region.</p><p>He doesn’t think this is one of his flashback episodes, though. The usual cackling puppets are nowhere to be seen, and he’s dead—the dead don’t have flashbacks. Or so he hopes.</p><p>He wanders for another couple meters and glances around as he does. There’s no one—no one alive, at least. He’s only seen a couple limbs sticking out of the mud and rocks, so he can only assume a powerful shinobi unleashed the elements on an unsuspecting team of—he spots a Tanigakure hitai-ate—Tani-nin.</p><p>It probably wasn’t even a powerful shinobi then. Tani-nin aren’t exactly known for being exceptional fighters. The Land of Rivers is too volatile for even the most prodigal shinobi to survive to adulthood. The best and the brightest know this and usually end up defecting to Suna in the west or get picked off by bounty hunters after turning missing-nin.</p><p>Chokorēto barks at him and he glances down. He forgot she was with him at all for a moment. But Chokorēto’s always been like that—fading into the background and popping up to save the day by biting a hidden attacker in the ass.</p><p>“What is it, Chokorēto?”</p><p>She digs at the ground, transparent paws doing nothing. He frowns and squats. There’s a glint of a familiar-looking steel gauntlet.</p><p>Sakumo had a set just like it when he was a boy… and he had them refitted for Kakashi when he joined the Academy, expecting him to grow into them by the time he graduated. </p><p>He sucks in a deep breath—he knows he doesn’t need to breathe anymore, and it’s not like it helps calm him.</p><p>“No.” Sakumo stands up. He can’t see anything through the sheets of rain—can’t hear anything. Forget smell. He hasn’t smelled anything in years. “No, no, <em>no.</em> No!”</p><p>He paces. Chokorēto whines. What does he do? What can he do? He’s dead—he can’t do anything! Sakumo doesn’t even believe in ghosts! Or, he didn’t, but here he is—a ghost that can’t do anything!</p><p><em>“Kakashi!”</em> a distant voice screams.</p><p>Sakumo stops pacing.</p><p>“Over here!” he shouts with all his might—with all his soul. He waits.</p><p>
  <em>“…Kakashi…!”</em>
</p><p>Whoever it is, they’re getting farther away, not closer.</p><p>He drops next to the gauntlet that he hopes isn’t (but knows is) Kakashi’s. He reaches for it and his hand dips through the dirt. Sakumo feels a warm tingle in his fingertips, and it’s the first warmth he’s felt since he died. He holds onto the at feeling and squeezes.</p><p>The soil shifts and Kakashi pops up, letting out a rattling cough. Mud coats his pale skin and silver hair, and he rips his mask down to take a deep, rasping breath in. Then he flops on his back and lets the pounding rain wash his face clean. </p><p>The Yellow Flash appears, landing hard on his knees next to Kakashi. He scoops Kakashi up—putting one hand on the back of his neck—and Sakumo winces. You don’t do that to Kakashi—not unless you’re okay with getting bitten.</p><p>He covers his eyes when the Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato, yelps. Kakashi just stabbed him with a kunai. Sakumo feels mortified for them both.</p><p> </p><p>When he opens his eyes, he’s back in the void, smooth stone beneath his feet.</p><p>He frowns and sits down on a log he’s just now noticing. Chokorēto pokes her nose between his arm and his side, turning her big brown eyes up at him. He gives her ears a good scratch. They’re both dead—he’s allowed to pet his dog. </p><p>“Chokorēto…” he murmurs. “Are you waiting for me to move on? You might have to wait a long time, you know?”</p><p>She sneezes on him and he grimaces. He doesn’t need to breathe and he can’t feel pain anymore, but the sensation of dog boogies hitting his cheek is the same as before. Gross. He wipes his cheek on his sleeve.</p><p>“Thanks, Chokorēto. I appreciate your support.”</p><p>If dogs can be reborn, Sakumo hopes she’s born into a good household that spoils her rotten and takes her on lots of walks somewhere far away from all the battles and bloodshed of the shinobi world.</p><p>
  <em>“Kakashi!”</em>
</p><p>Sakumo glances over his shoulder and blinks. He’s standing outside a manjū shop as the little girl from the Academy exits. She looks like she lost a fight with a pair of scissors, though he can finally see her eyes. They’re quite unusual. Different. </p><p>He can see why she would want to keep them hidden. </p><p><em>“Want one?”</em> the girl offers, and he realizes he’s standing right next to Kakashi.</p><p>
  <em>“…I don’t like sweet things.” </em>
</p><p>She frowns at her bag of manjū.</p><p>
  <em>“I can go get you a meat bun?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“It’s fine, Honōka. Let’s go already—we’re going to be late, <strong>again.”</strong></em>
</p><p>She shrugs and follows Kakashi, stuffing an entire manjū into her mouth as they walk. Sakumo shakes his head. </p><p>“She’s going to choke…”</p><p><em>“You’re going to choke,”</em> Kakashi warns her, and Sakumo chuckles.</p><p><em>“Mhm—no, I’m not,”</em> she says, swallowing the bun almost whole. She beats her chest a couple times to force the half chewed manjū down.</p><p>If she doesn’t choke, she’s definitely going to have a stomachache. Kakashi just rolls his eyes at her.</p><p>
  <em>“Hurry up, Honōka. We’re supposed to be plucking weeds at ten o’clock.”</em>
</p><p>D-ranks! They’re doing D-ranks—<em>together!</em> Thank the Sage! Nothing ever goes wrong on D-rank missions, ever. Sakumo can breathe an enormous sigh of relief. He won’t be watching his son cry or nearly die today.</p><p>He has to wonder—did this come before or after Kakashi’s mission on the coast? Is time even linear for the dead? </p><p>He thinks it is. Kakashi looks just a bit taller—and thinner. Chokorēto huffs next to him, perhaps thinking the same thing.</p><p>He reaches down and scratches Chokorēto between the ears. “What do you think, Chokorēto? You gonna hang around with me for a while yet? Help me keep an eye on Kakashi?”</p><p>She barks twice for yes, and they follow Kakashi and his new teammate. </p><p>Sakumo’s looking forward to seeing his son complete a safe, non-hazardous D-rank mission!</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Do YOU have burning questions about Honōka that keep you awake at night? Tell me about it! I can totally relate.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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